Canada’s futsal team has returned from Brazil where it finished 16th at the IV Grand Prix of Futsal. It was Canada’s first futsal competition in four years since the 2004 CONCACAF qualification tournament. Canada lost all six games in the competition.

Canada’s primary goal at the tournament was to identify new players that could compete at the international level. While Canada did not enter CONCACAF qualification for the 2008 season, coach Ross Ongaro was looking ahead to future CONCACAF and FIFA tournaments.

In the group phase of the tournament (four groups of four teams), Canada lost 0:5 to Ukraine, 4:6 to Mozambique and 1:2 to Colombia. Canada had a lead in each of the last two games before falling behind.

“The IV Grand Prix of Futsal clearly illustrated how the level of competition has increased over the years,” said coach Ongaro. “The coaching staff was well aware of the challenges that would arise in trying to compete at the international level without the proper preparation and skill set. The speed of the game requires a very experienced group of players as matches are won and lost in a matter of seconds as players are pushed to their limits.”

From the group phase, Canada advance to the plate competition with the bottom eight teams. The best it could do was finish 9th. Unfortunately, Canada lost back-to-back heartbreakers: a 2-3 loss to Uruguay (goal in the last minute) and a 4:5 loss to Chile (overtime goal). Canada then lost its final match 1:4 to Peru to finish 16th in the tournament.

“The Canadian roster featured a mixture of players with varying levels of experience not only in the game of Futsal but also traditional soccer,” said Ongaro. “For the majority of players, the IV Grand Prix of Futsal introduced them to a much higher level of competition. The inexperience of some of the Canadian players was evident early on and this created several challenges for the rest of the team.”

In all, Canada scored eight goals in six games. Desmond Humphrey and captain Adolfo Mella each scored two goals while Fitzroy Christie, Eduardo Jauregui, Matthew Rios and Alvaro Yaques each scored one goal.