Southern Region five-a-side select sides head to Harare

FIVE-A-Side national league chairperson Philani Banda has revealed that two select sides from the Southern Region will on Friday leave for Harare where they will take part in a tournament that will feature their Northern Region counterparts.

Five-a-side football is a version of mini-football, in which each team fields five players (four outfield players and a goalkeeper).

Other differences from association football include a smaller pitch, smaller goals and a reduced game duration.

Matches are played indoors, or outdoors on artificial grass pitches that may be enclosed within a barrier, or “cage” to prevent the ball from leaving the playing area and keep the game constantly flowing.

Five-a-side football is an informal, small-sided game with flexible rules, often determined before play begins. The penalty area is semi-circular and only the goalkeeper can touch the ball within it. There are no offside rules, headers are allowed, and yellow and red cards work similarly to traditional 11-a-side football.

Banda said the select sides are composed of 10 players for the Under-21 team and the same number of players for the senior team.

“A total of 20 players, that is 10 for the Southern Region Under-21 select team and 10 for the senior select team will make the trip to Harare on Friday. It was a tournament that was supposed to be held last weekend, but it was cancelled at the last minute because of some logistical challenges,” said Banda.

He added: “The tournament is meant to provide a competitive platform to the players, as we seek to assess players that will make up our national team, set to take part in assignments that are scheduled to take place in the near future.”

During the Easter holiday, the Southern Region Five-A-Side League held a seven-team tournament that was at Bulawayo’s Grassroots Soccer Football For Hope Centre in Gwabalanda.

The teams that took part are Amabhubesi, BMW, Hope A, Hope B, Fox and Zone 8.

Hope B emerged as the winners after beating BMW 5-3 in the final of the competition.

For their breathtaking and tireless efforts, Hope B went home with US$150. BMW got US$50 as a consolation prize. — @FungaiMuderere