August 31, 2024 • 10 mins
It’s a whole new world for New Zealand’s futsal scene.
For the first time ever, a New Zealand team has qualified for the Men’s Futsal World Cup in Uzbekistan.
Futsal Whites coach Marvin Eakins joins Piney to discuss their journey to the World Cup.
“It's been a heck of a ride... with lots of heartbreak and lots of stories along the way.”
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Fine
from Newstalk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Next month, so basically September, New Zealand will compete at
the FIFA Futsal World Cup for the very first time,
having won the Oceania qualifying tenement back in October.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Ah, there's the Playerneers, the shot from edtamenovis goals Mike Hantamarov.
We're a play and a half right there. What a
score from Mike Hantamarov.
Speaker 4 (00:38):
His first goal for.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
New Zealand has come at a hugely important time and
how well did he execute that play? It's an absolute
heartbreaker for the Solomon Islands.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
So New Zealand qualified. That's last October or October obviously.
Twenty twenty three. The twenty twenty four Footsal World Cup
is underway from September fourteen in Uzbekistan. Footsball White's head
coach is Marvin Eakins. He's named a squad of fourteen players.
Ten are based domestically, four of them are based internationally.
Marvin Ekins is with us. Were there any tough choices
(01:12):
you had to make, Marvin to finalize you're squad at fourteen?
Speaker 5 (01:16):
Yeah, there's a group of three or four players that
have missed out that were right on the edge, and
they've kind of sacrificed a lot to give themselves the
best opportunity to be involved. Unfortunately, with the World Cup
we can only take fourteen players. Otherwise we would have
been nice have brought them along and had I guess
(01:38):
a bigger squad to choose from.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Tell us about the blend in your squad between youth
and experienced players.
Speaker 5 (01:47):
Yeah, there is quite a blend. A large chunk of
the team that was around four years ago has generally
moved on, with Dolo Manquin the captain, still be involved,
Stephen Ashby and Mickey Mellabook, who was kind of a
late surprise. I guess this year being the right page
(02:08):
of forty one. And then at the other end, we've
got a letter of young players all under the age
of kind of twenty five, and yeah, there's some exciting
lads in there that I think will be keen to
take the opportunity. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
I was going to ask about n Keep because I
had him late thirty. So forty one, man, that's terrific.
You clearly value the experience that he brings, but also
you're confident that those forty one year old legs will
still be up to.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
It, no doubt.
Speaker 5 (02:40):
Mickey's the kind of guy if you know him, that
we'll be doing pull ups in his kitchen. So he's Yeah,
he's got the body of an eighteen year old, so
he's certainly looked after himself and being ready to go.
But he brings he's in a specialist position. He's in
the pivot role as well, and he's got a few
campaigns under his bout. So yeah, he's a good personality
(03:01):
to have around the team.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
How much has the game changed?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
I want to talk about the World Cup in a minute,
but how much is the game changed since you became
involved in it at the very top level.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
It's been a good change, I think for us. What
we've found now is that a lot of the players
are just dedicating their time fully to futsal in the
sense that they're not also trying to deliver on a
football career as well, which is kind of how it
was in the past. And that's pretty massive for some
of these younger guys as well, to make that call
(03:34):
pretty early and try and pursue a career in futsal
and I think with that, we're starting to get people
that are students of the game, that are watching, learning
all the time, and it's starting to flow into I
guess that the high performance end because there is underneath
this group. I know there's a really good youth contingent
(03:54):
of players that will kind of be buying at these
players heels if they don't keep applying themselves and keep
pushing themselves.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
So what does your crystal ball tell you?
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Does it tell you that in I don't know, ten years,
may be maybe even not that long, that there'll be
football players who never.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Play eleven a side outside.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
I mean, I look at a guy like Dylan Mallickum,
you know, and what he does on the grass in
an eleven a side environment. Do you think in the
future it might be that guys and women just play footsal.
Speaker 5 (04:25):
I think it will have to be if the game
really wants to kick on, but not until they are
of a good age. I mean, when you're in those
teenage years, you should be cracking on with all the
different sports, right and football being one of those. I
think the big challenge that footsball will have is making
sure that we can offer careers for our athletes, because
it's especially in the football game. You've got the opportunity
(04:47):
of university scholarships in America, and I guess the opportunity
or the vision of going pro in the Premier League
as we've seen recently, so things like that can be
quite enticing. But I think what we're starting to see
now is that there are a handful of guys and
there will be more that are pushing overseas to try
(05:09):
and apply their trade, make a little bit of income
hopefully and eventually that becomes a little bit more lucrative.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Let's look at the World Cup. Then you're in a
group with Spain, Kazakhstan and Libya. You need to finish
top two or be one of the best third placed finishers.
How do you rate your chances of getting out of
that group?
Speaker 5 (05:27):
Well, two European teams of Spain and Kazakhstan makes Nate's
life difficult. We have to be real. Spain will be
trying to win the whole thing and will be one
of the favorites to do so, and Kazakhstan are a
very very strong side and have some unique tactics that
will probably find a bit challenging once we get across there.
(05:49):
Libya is a bit of an unknown. They kind of
squeeze through, if I can say that through their qualifying
and upset Egypt when it matters and shows that, I
guess they've got something to them when it comes to
dealing with pressure. Certainly our game where we're targeting it's
the first one against Libya on the fifteenth, and I
(06:11):
think if we can get a positive result there, then
anything can happen in those games against Kazakhstan Spain.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Will do you have the opportunity, Marvin, for a decent
build up to the World Cup.
Speaker 5 (06:24):
We're fortunate to have some games in Thailand and the
lead in which will get us four games against some
Asian opposition, which will be really useful. We don't get
many international games. I think every international sports team or
athlete is always wanting more initial games to test themselves,
and we've certainly wanted that over the last few years
(06:46):
to help us kind of build. So I think it's
going to be important to challenge us ours against the
likes of Thailand, who are one of the strongest Asian teams,
to kind of see how we could come across teams
and styles that are similar to Libya And.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
How special is it to be part of the first
New Zealand side to go to a footsall World Cabino
the fotshell Ferns The women have just in the last
little while qualified for their first one and the Philippines
next year. But how cool is it to be the
first New Zealand side to go to a men's fotsill
World Cup.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
Yeah, it's been for some of us. It's been quite
the journey. For myself since two thousand and eight. I've
been trying to get there, initially as a player and
more recently as a coach. But even before me, goalkeeper
coach Elias Billet, he was part of the twenty fourteen
they tried and missed out with Australia taking that one
when they were still in the Oceania region.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
So it's been Yeah.
Speaker 5 (07:46):
It's been a heca a right, with lots of heartbreaking,
lots of stories along the way. But I think in
the background what's been important in New Zealand is that
there's been a lot of development, a lot of opportunities
for kids to play and build up their hours playing
the game, and I think that's kind of led to
it was a matter of time for us to finally qualify,
(08:09):
and I think the guys know that generally that there's
a bigger picture here and how this could kick ONTs
I guess to the next step locally, but there's also
an element of these guys that put in a lot
of mahi themselves and have deserved this opportunity. So we
don't want them having the way to the country too
much on them or the way of footsal in the country,
(08:30):
but I think it will be in the back of
all their minds.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Wonderful.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Well, it's an exciting time for you, you support staff,
and for these fourteen players who are about to head
off to the FIFA Footsall World Cup and who'z Beekistan
Marvin all the best mate, Thanks for taking the time
for a chat.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
Can't wait to see how it plays out for you.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
Cheers, Bunny.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Thanks Marvin.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Marvin Ekean's their coach of the futsal White so our
men's national futsal team. If you're unfamiliar with it, just
think indoor football. That's basically what it is.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
But it is.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Enormous, absolutely enormous around the world, gaining in popularity in
New Zealand as well. In fact for indoor football, for
futsal just going through the roof, and a lot of
it is not club based stuff, just a bunch of
friends playing, you know, on a Wednesday night in a
(09:19):
social league or something like that. But then there are
obviously elite pathways as well. And New Zealand football and
football associations all around the world are taking it a
lot more seriously because it is building their participation base.
They basically align the two football in its normal sense,
the outside version on grass or whatever it is, eleven
a side. Futsal is becoming a huge part of the
(09:42):
game here and all around the world. And the next
World Cup for men next month or starting on the
fourteenth of September. Incidentally, our women, as I mentioned to
Marven Ekins there, have also qualified for the World Cup
for the first time. In fact, it's the first ever
women's World Cup next year in the Philippines. I will
cover that off on the show tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to news Talk zed B weekends from midday or follow
the podcast.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
I was done. I heard radio
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Fine
from Newstalk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Next month, so basically September, New Zealand will compete at
the FIFA Futsal World Cup for the very first time,
having won the Oceania qualifying tenement back in October.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Ah, there's the Playerneers, the shot from edtamenovis goals Mike Hantamarov.
We're a play and a half right there. What a
score from Mike Hantamarov.
Speaker 4 (00:38):
His first goal for.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
New Zealand has come at a hugely important time and
how well did he execute that play? It's an absolute
heartbreaker for the Solomon Islands.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
So New Zealand qualified. That's last October or October obviously.
Twenty twenty three. The twenty twenty four Footsal World Cup
is underway from September fourteen in Uzbekistan. Footsball White's head
coach is Marvin Eakins. He's named a squad of fourteen players.
Ten are based domestically, four of them are based internationally.
Marvin Ekins is with us. Were there any tough choices
(01:12):
you had to make, Marvin to finalize you're squad at fourteen?
Speaker 5 (01:16):
Yeah, there's a group of three or four players that
have missed out that were right on the edge, and
they've kind of sacrificed a lot to give themselves the
best opportunity to be involved. Unfortunately, with the World Cup
we can only take fourteen players. Otherwise we would have
been nice have brought them along and had I guess
(01:38):
a bigger squad to choose from.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Tell us about the blend in your squad between youth
and experienced players.
Speaker 5 (01:47):
Yeah, there is quite a blend. A large chunk of
the team that was around four years ago has generally
moved on, with Dolo Manquin the captain, still be involved,
Stephen Ashby and Mickey Mellabook, who was kind of a
late surprise. I guess this year being the right page
(02:08):
of forty one. And then at the other end, we've
got a letter of young players all under the age
of kind of twenty five, and yeah, there's some exciting
lads in there that I think will be keen to
take the opportunity. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
I was going to ask about n Keep because I
had him late thirty. So forty one, man, that's terrific.
You clearly value the experience that he brings, but also
you're confident that those forty one year old legs will
still be up to.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
It, no doubt.
Speaker 5 (02:40):
Mickey's the kind of guy if you know him, that
we'll be doing pull ups in his kitchen. So he's Yeah,
he's got the body of an eighteen year old, so
he's certainly looked after himself and being ready to go.
But he brings he's in a specialist position. He's in
the pivot role as well, and he's got a few
campaigns under his bout. So yeah, he's a good personality
(03:01):
to have around the team.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
How much has the game changed?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
I want to talk about the World Cup in a minute,
but how much is the game changed since you became
involved in it at the very top level.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
It's been a good change, I think for us. What
we've found now is that a lot of the players
are just dedicating their time fully to futsal in the
sense that they're not also trying to deliver on a
football career as well, which is kind of how it
was in the past. And that's pretty massive for some
of these younger guys as well, to make that call
(03:34):
pretty early and try and pursue a career in futsal
and I think with that, we're starting to get people
that are students of the game, that are watching, learning
all the time, and it's starting to flow into I
guess that the high performance end because there is underneath
this group. I know there's a really good youth contingent
(03:54):
of players that will kind of be buying at these
players heels if they don't keep applying themselves and keep
pushing themselves.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
So what does your crystal ball tell you?
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Does it tell you that in I don't know, ten years,
may be maybe even not that long, that there'll be
football players who never.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Play eleven a side outside.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
I mean, I look at a guy like Dylan Mallickum,
you know, and what he does on the grass in
an eleven a side environment. Do you think in the
future it might be that guys and women just play footsal.
Speaker 5 (04:25):
I think it will have to be if the game
really wants to kick on, but not until they are
of a good age. I mean, when you're in those
teenage years, you should be cracking on with all the
different sports, right and football being one of those. I
think the big challenge that footsball will have is making
sure that we can offer careers for our athletes, because
it's especially in the football game. You've got the opportunity
(04:47):
of university scholarships in America, and I guess the opportunity
or the vision of going pro in the Premier League
as we've seen recently, so things like that can be
quite enticing. But I think what we're starting to see
now is that there are a handful of guys and
there will be more that are pushing overseas to try
(05:09):
and apply their trade, make a little bit of income
hopefully and eventually that becomes a little bit more lucrative.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Let's look at the World Cup. Then you're in a
group with Spain, Kazakhstan and Libya. You need to finish
top two or be one of the best third placed finishers.
How do you rate your chances of getting out of
that group?
Speaker 5 (05:27):
Well, two European teams of Spain and Kazakhstan makes Nate's
life difficult. We have to be real. Spain will be
trying to win the whole thing and will be one
of the favorites to do so, and Kazakhstan are a
very very strong side and have some unique tactics that
will probably find a bit challenging once we get across there.
(05:49):
Libya is a bit of an unknown. They kind of
squeeze through, if I can say that through their qualifying
and upset Egypt when it matters and shows that, I
guess they've got something to them when it comes to
dealing with pressure. Certainly our game where we're targeting it's
the first one against Libya on the fifteenth, and I
(06:11):
think if we can get a positive result there, then
anything can happen in those games against Kazakhstan Spain.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Will do you have the opportunity, Marvin, for a decent
build up to the World Cup.
Speaker 5 (06:24):
We're fortunate to have some games in Thailand and the
lead in which will get us four games against some
Asian opposition, which will be really useful. We don't get
many international games. I think every international sports team or
athlete is always wanting more initial games to test themselves,
and we've certainly wanted that over the last few years
(06:46):
to help us kind of build. So I think it's
going to be important to challenge us ours against the
likes of Thailand, who are one of the strongest Asian teams,
to kind of see how we could come across teams
and styles that are similar to Libya And.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
How special is it to be part of the first
New Zealand side to go to a footsall World Cabino
the fotshell Ferns The women have just in the last
little while qualified for their first one and the Philippines
next year. But how cool is it to be the
first New Zealand side to go to a men's fotsill
World Cup.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
Yeah, it's been for some of us. It's been quite
the journey. For myself since two thousand and eight. I've
been trying to get there, initially as a player and
more recently as a coach. But even before me, goalkeeper
coach Elias Billet, he was part of the twenty fourteen
they tried and missed out with Australia taking that one
when they were still in the Oceania region.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
So it's been Yeah.
Speaker 5 (07:46):
It's been a heca a right, with lots of heartbreaking,
lots of stories along the way. But I think in
the background what's been important in New Zealand is that
there's been a lot of development, a lot of opportunities
for kids to play and build up their hours playing
the game, and I think that's kind of led to
it was a matter of time for us to finally qualify,
(08:09):
and I think the guys know that generally that there's
a bigger picture here and how this could kick ONTs
I guess to the next step locally, but there's also
an element of these guys that put in a lot
of mahi themselves and have deserved this opportunity. So we
don't want them having the way to the country too
much on them or the way of footsal in the country,
(08:30):
but I think it will be in the back of
all their minds.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Wonderful.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Well, it's an exciting time for you, you support staff,
and for these fourteen players who are about to head
off to the FIFA Footsall World Cup and who'z Beekistan
Marvin all the best mate, Thanks for taking the time
for a chat.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
Can't wait to see how it plays out for you.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
Cheers, Bunny.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Thanks Marvin.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Marvin Ekean's their coach of the futsal White so our
men's national futsal team. If you're unfamiliar with it, just
think indoor football. That's basically what it is.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
But it is.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Enormous, absolutely enormous around the world, gaining in popularity in
New Zealand as well. In fact for indoor football, for
futsal just going through the roof, and a lot of
it is not club based stuff, just a bunch of
friends playing, you know, on a Wednesday night in a
(09:19):
social league or something like that. But then there are
obviously elite pathways as well. And New Zealand football and
football associations all around the world are taking it a
lot more seriously because it is building their participation base.
They basically align the two football in its normal sense,
the outside version on grass or whatever it is, eleven
a side. Futsal is becoming a huge part of the
(09:42):
game here and all around the world. And the next
World Cup for men next month or starting on the
fourteenth of September. Incidentally, our women, as I mentioned to
Marven Ekins there, have also qualified for the World Cup
for the first time. In fact, it's the first ever
women's World Cup next year in the Philippines. I will
cover that off on the show tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to news Talk zed B weekends from midday or follow
the podcast.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
I was done. I heard radio
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