Futsal Whites captain Dylan Manickum believes there’s plenty of improvement in his side before they play the world’s best teams at next year’s FIFA Futsal World Cup.
After New Zealand clinched their place at the World Cup with a 5-0 win against Tahiti, Manickum said:
“I’m sure we can always improve technically and tactically.
“I’m sure the coaches will go back and have a think about the best way to approach games going forward.
“I guess the World Cup games are a little bit more structured than some of the (Pacific) Island teams and we’ll probably do some adjustments around that.”
Manickum (31) said he was “buzzing” after New Zealand won the OFC Futsal Nations Cup at the Bruce Pulman Arena in Takanini.
“I guess we’ve worked so long, so hard, to get where we are and obviously it came out today and we won the game and everyone’s bloody happy about it,” he said.
The week-long tournament provided Manickum with personal milestones, as well as his team’s achievements.
During the tournament, Manickum:
- Played his 64th game for New Zealand, extending the all-time appearances record for the Futsal Whites.
- Was awarded the Golden Boot for being the Player of the Tournament.
- Was the Player of the Match for the final.
Main photo: Dylan Manickum receives his Player of the Tournament award from OFC president Lambert Maltock. Photo: Shane Wenzlick / Phototek.
Meanwhile, New Zealand goalkeeper Mike Antamanov was awarded the tournament’s Golden Glove award, recognised as the best goalkeeper.
The tournament’s Fair Play Award went to Vanuatu while the Golden Boot winner was Solomon Islands’ Micah Lea’alafa.
READ MORE: Futsal Whites heading to FIFA Futsal World Cup for first time after beating Tahiti >>>>
Watch Dylan Manickum’s interview
New Zealand Futsal Whites squad
Rahan Ali | Moreland Futsal
Mike Antamanov | Auckland City FC
Stephen Ashby-Peckham | Auckland City FC
Jordan Ditfort | Bloomsbury Futsal
Hamish Grey | Unattached
Oban Hawkins | Southern United
Dylan Manickum | Auckland City FC
Ethan Martin | Waikato Rapids
Adam Paulsen | Auckland City FC
Thomas Picken | Auckland City FC
Casey Sharplin | Waikato Rapids
Patrick Steele | Waikato Rapids
Art Twigg | Auckland City FC
Logan Wisnewski | Bloomsbury Futsal
About the 2024 FIFA Futsal World Cup
The tournament will be staged in Uzbekistan from September 14 – October 6, 2024.
It will be the 10th Futsal World Cup and 24 teams will participate, including the host nation and New Zealand.
The rest of the qualifiers will come from tournaments to be held next year, with the following numbers of teams to earn places at the Uzbekistan tournament: Asia (3, as well as hosts Uzbekistan), Africa (3), Central, North America and Caribbean (4), South America (4) and Europe (7).
Portugal are the current holders of the World Cup.
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