Watch CONCACAF Futsal Championships Online

To watch a live stream of all of our games at the 2012 CONCACAF Futsal Championships, you can register for free at: http://www.concacaftv.premiumtv.co.uk/page/WatchLive It's easy, all you have to do is go to the above link, click "register now" and fill out a few details. We open the tournament on Monday evening at 10 PM Eastern time (8 PM Local time) against Guatemala. You can see the schedule for the entire tournament below. Go Canada!

2012 CONCACAF Futsal Championship

FINALS
At Guatemala City
Times U.S. Eastern (local time in parentheses)

FIRST ROUND

Group A: Guatemala, United States, Panama, Canada 

Group B: Cuba, Mexico, Costa Rica, St. Kitts and Nevis

Monday, July 2
Mexico vs. Costa Rica, noon (10 a.m.)
St. Kitts & Nevis vs. Cuba, 2 p.m. (noon)
United States vs. Panama, 8 p.m. (6 p.m.)
Guatemala vs. Canada, 10 p.m. (8 p.m.)

Tuesday, July 3
Mexico vs. St. Kitts & Nevis, noon (10 a.m.)
Cuba vs. Costa Rica, 2 p.m. (noon)
Canada vs. United States, 8 p.m. (6 p.m.)
Guatemala vs. Panama, 10 p.m. (8 p.m.)

Wednesday, July 4
Costa Rica vs. St. Kitts & Nevis, noon (10 a.m.)
Cuba vs. Mexico, 2 p.m. (noon)
Panama vs. Canada, 8 p.m. (6 p.m.)
Guatemala vs. United States, 10 p.m. (8 p.m.)

SEMIFINALS
Friday, July 6
Group B winner vs. Group A runner-up, 8 p.m. (6 p.m.)
Group A winner vs. Group B runner-up, 10 p.m. (8 p.m.)

FINALS
Sunday, July 8
Third-Place Match
Semifinal losers, 6 p.m. (4 p.m.)
Championship

Semifinal winners, 8 p.m. (6 p.m.)

Canada Vs El Salvador

Hello from Guatemala City! We played a two-game playoff against El Salvador this week, with games on Thursday and Friday. The winner of the series was decided on total goals (aggregate). The first game was a strange one, we dominated the game and had much more possession and shots than El Salvador; however, we lost 4-1. It was disappointing, but we knew that we didn't have much time to think about it with the next game the day after. It was do or die, and we knew that we had to go out and play the game of our lives. Again in the second game, we controlled the game and were up 4-0 in the second half (5-4 on aggregate). However, El Salvador scored twice in the final minutes, including a goal with 35 seconds to go (putting them up 6-5 on aggregate). We then went down the other way and scored with 15 seconds to go to tie the game, and then again with 5 seconds left on the clock to win the game. It was absolutely unbelievable. Definitely the most emotions I have ever experienced during a game and the best moment of my career so far. I'm so proud of the team and the way that we played yesterday. Every single guy on the team came together and played their hearts out. You had to be there to experience what this game was really like, but it was something truly special. With the win we advance to the CONCACAF Futsal Championships next week, which also take place here in Guatemala City. We are the first Canadian team to ever advance to the CONCACAF Futsal Championships. We will open the tournament against hosts Guatemala on Monday night, and play against the USA on Tuesday, and Panama on Wednesday. From there, the top two teams advance to the tournament semi-finals, and also book a place to the 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Thailand. What a day and what a game. I'm so proud to be here representing Canada and to be a part of this team. More to come later...

Concacaf Main | CONCACAF Home | Tournaments | Futsal | News | News | Late goal sends Canada to futsal finals

Concacaf Main | CONCACAF Home | Tournaments | Futsal | News | News | Late goal sends Canada to futsal finals

Red Nation Online - Post 3 & Press

You can read my latest column for Red Nation Online here: http://www.rednationonline.ca/InTheseBootsPassingtestsandreachinggoals.aspx

Also, here are a few articles in the news that have come out recently about my trip with the Canadian National Futsal team:

http://www.peacearchnews.com/sports/160699305.html
http://bcsoccerweb.com/articles-june/tice-jun-25-futsal.htm
http://www.peacearchsoccer.com/canada-call-up-for-robbie-tice/

Checking in from Costa Rica

I’m currently with the Canadian Men’s National Futsal team, sitting at the airport in San Jose, Costa Rica, waiting to board a plane to Guatemala City, Guatemala. We’ve spent the last week in Costa Rica preparing for the 2012 CONCACAF Qualifying tournament, which serves as Qualifiers for the 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Thailand. Training has gone well and we also played two friendly games against Costa Rica’s National team, in preparation for the tournament. It’s great to be here with the team and so far things have gone well for us. The games against Costa Rica were a very good experience and there are many positives to take from the games. The first game against Costa Rica was my first game representing Canada, and it was a truly great feeling. I will always remember that day. In Guatemala City, we play against El Salvador in a two-game preliminary series and the winner advances to the final eight-team CONCACAF Qualifying tournament, which takes place the next week also in Guatemala City. From there the top two teams in each group advances to the semi-finals of the tournament and also books a place to the 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup. As a team, we are very excited to arrive in Guatemala and get started. 

Update

It’s nice to be getting settled into my new club Nesodden. I really enjoy the training and being around the club. I haven’t been able to play my first game for the club yet, as we are still waiting for the paperwork to go through. However I’m sure that will come very soon, hopefully within the next couple days. Nesodden is a peninsula in the Oslo Fjord. You can either drive there (around 45 minutes) or you can take a ferry from downtown Oslo (10-20 minutes, depending on the boat). Some of the players live in Nesodden, but many of the players live in Oslo and commute to training.

The club has been in good form recently, currently sitting in 4^th place in the Division, 6 points off the leaders, with one game in hand. During the winter I had the opportunity to train with quite a few different clubs and I have to say it’s a nice feeling to sign with a new club and settle down. Getting in a routine is very beneficial for my training and I have found the level of training at the club very good so far. There are many talented players in the squad and the coaching staff seems to always be coming up with diverse training sessions for us. The training sessions are hard work of course, but there is often a good mix of fun involved. For example, sometimes the theme for training can be very high intensity small-sided games, where the focus is mostly fitness. There is often fitness components incorporated into every session in some way or another. Some days will be mostly on team shape and tactics for the upcoming game. Other days will be more focused on technical work or crossing/finishing. We work on passing drills and technique a lot, which I think is very important. The team tries to play a quick short passing game and it's refreshing to come into a team at this level, that still works on the basics almost everyday. We play a lot of different variations of possession games, this is usually part of the training every single day and is also one of my favourite activities. After the team had a great result in their game on the weekend, we had a light session the next day and had a football tennis tournament. 

Everyday is something different, which is crucial for keeping it interesting and exciting for the players. I really like the way the training sessions are laid out and structured here. There’s clearly a lot of thought put into every day’s training schedule. I know that I will be able to improve my game at this club. I want to say again how nice and welcoming everyone at the club has been to me so far. I have nothing but good things to say about the club at this point and I’m looking forward to playing my first game for Nesodden.

Until next time,

Robbie

Nesodden IF

I have some good news to report, I signed yesterday with Nesodden IF of the Norwegian Second Division. I’m very excited and looking forward to this opportunity. I've spent the last little while in Norway, training with various clubs and looking for the right fit, and I believe I’ve found it with Nesodden. I’m very impressed with the clubs professionalism and the way they do things. Everyone at the club (coaches/players/staff) have been very friendly and have made me feel very welcome. I’m looking forward to getting started and playing for Nesodden. More to come soon!

Robbie