Six Cork players in Irish Socca side

SIX Cork lads are currently in Budapest, Hungary competing in the World Socca Cup tournament.

Jack Allen, Callum Donoghue, Alexandrous O’Brien, Charley Whalley, Robert Ryan and Jamesie Moriarty are part of a 14 man squad competing in the six a side tournament which has over 40 teams competing from all around the world.

The World Cup Socca is a six-a-side football competition, a sport discipline designed for amateur players, where matches take place in a specially built stadium for approximately 5,000 spectators on an Astroturf surface in Mázsa tér square in Budapest. Despite the fact that it is an amateur sport, organisationally it is definitely on the global level.

Recently I caught up with President of Ireland Socca Tomas Szlinder and here he tells us about the tournament and the expectations of his Irish squad.

“Since 2017, I am the president of Ireland Socca and year by year I set myself more and more goals to bring it to the highest level,” said Sibslier. 

"It would not be possible without friends who are also actively involved in the development and organisation of Ireland Socca, thanks to which we are in able to organise tournaments all over Ireland, and thus we are able to increase our budget. 
"It's also thanks to the fact that each of us work and lives in different parts of the country, we are able to raise certain funds as part of advertising on clothing from local companies such as Cork Builders Providers, Midelton Gates or Mario Construction Services, but also large companies such as Dawn Meats and many others.

“This year, thanks to a well-thought-out organisation and sponsors, we are able to cover the full costs of equipment, flights and accommodation for the entire team, including the staff.

“Every year, the budget has to be analysed with a future in mind, because the Socca World Cup tournaments are held every year. It is already known that next year the tournament will be played in Essen, Germany. 

"However, in order to attract teams to play in the qualifying tournaments and finals, you need an incentive, so this year the Irish champions in Socca will not only win a huge trophy and title, but also a cash prize, which will certainly help with budget planning for a trip to Maribor for the Champions League 2023.” 

It is a huge opportunity for any person to represent their country at any sport and at any level and for one local Cork lad Jack Allen, who currently plays with Togher side Everton in the Munster Senior League, he is thrilled with the opportunity.

“It's my first year with the team,” said Allen. 

"I was playing six-a-side out in MTU with a few of the lads and that’s where I got picked from. It means everything to be representing my country at a World Cup. The excitement and nerves kicked in last week and it’s fantastic to be here competing now. 

"It’s so different to my normal game, in 11-a-side you generally get a bit of time on the ball whereas in six-a-side you get no time it’s one and two touch and I love that challenge.

“I am loving the experience here so far. As I said it's a huge achievement to represent my country in anything at any level and I aim to make everyone proud."

A total of 43 teams have entered the competition and at present Ireland are ranked 30th in the world. 

"We have the quality in the group to definitely go out and give teams a game. Our expectations would be to get out of the group and see where it takes us, but as I said it will be a tough group to get out of but I feel that we can do it.” 

The team will compete in group G this week where they will face Mexico, Scotland, Mauritius and Pakistan. The top two teams qualify for the knockout stage (last 16) and Sindlier is confident that his side can at least get out of their group.

“Our goal for this weeks Championship is to compete with the teams in our group as best we can and score as many points as possible, but in my personal opinion I know that this team can be promoted from the group. 

"The guys have been training very hard for the past year, they have devoted not only their time but their hearts to this team and you can see that these training sessions have given them a lot of confidence and harmony. However, time will tell what result we will achieve as a team, because all teams have a similar goal.

“We would like to thank all the companies involved in supporting our team, every amount paid is very important to us, to achieve the goal of going for an unforgettable experience, which is representing the country at an international tournament. Let’s hope we can repay them for their kindness with great performances and results this week.” 

IRELAND SQUAD

Nathan Owens (goalkeeper, Evergreen FC, Kilkenny), Alexandros O'Brien (goalkeeper, MTU Cork), Jack Allen (Everton AFC, Cork), Callum Donoghue (Everton AFC, Cork, Robert Ryan (Mayfield United), Charlie Whalley (Midleton FC, played at World Cup in Crete '19), Jamesie Moriarty (FC Najduchy), Sam Watkin (Mullingar Town), Jefferson Da Silva (Hibernian FC, Waterford), Damien Raggett (player/manager, Kilkenny), Dragos Mamaliga, Edgar Supraschii, Gintaras Paketuras (FC Moldova, Dublin), Alexandr Leu (FC Moldova, Dublin).