Congratulations Team AWC United

What a day Arabuni Futsal turned out to be. Excitement, frustration, cheering, passion - a fusion of many emotions were felt at different times of the day. A summary of the tournament jist will be out sometime this week along with all the photos and footag of the day.

In the meantime, big congratulations for team AWC United let by their skipper Tareq Assad for winning the tournament against the Palmy Omani team.

Arabuni Futsal Draw is out!

The Arabuni Futsal 2009 has been drawn and published online. Please see the schedule page to download a copy of it.

Player Watch 6: Roberto Antunes

Small in size and quite on court, Roberto Antunes is probably 'the' player with the highest chance of nailing this year's Arabuni Futsal player of the tournament prize.

Nicknamed Caopao, Roberto is a player that cannot be underestimated; his ability to read the game, and call the shots, and suddenly explode makes him the unbelievable futsal player that he is.

Roberto used to play professionally for Brazilian futsal club Tres Coroas and is simply a huge foot-balling talent that will surely lighten up Arabuni Futsal.

Keep a very close eye on this player!

Many paths of winning at Arabuni

In your typical sports tournament, winning is normally understood by being the winning team of the tournament or perhaps the runner up. In Arabuni Futsal, that is not the case.

Arabuni Futsal presents several opportunities for talented players to gain recognition and unleash their true potential. Individual prizes such as the most memorable goal of the tournament or the player who squeezes in the most number of nutmegs (yes! the referees will be keeping a count of every single nutmeg that is slotted between someone's legs on purpose) will be getting various fancy prizes at the end of the day.

What's a memorable goal look like? Well should the following youtube goal have been scored in Arabuni Futsal, it surely could have been a candidate to win that prize - lets have a look:

Tournament Groups announced

With all teams now confirmed, the Arabuni Futsal Tournament groups have been drawn and are out online. The tournament draw should be up tomorrow (Thurs Oct 8).

Big Shout to the Sponsors

Arabuni Futsal is very grateful for the continuous support of Frooti and Penalty in sponsoring the tournament every single year. New this year, is the signing up of Nooras restaurant as a backer of Arabuni Futsal. Thank you all.

Player Watchout 5: Hilal Al Kharusi

The Omani Palmerston north team is one of the clear candidates for this year's Arabuni Futsal title. Spear headed by their lethal striker Hilal Al Kharusi, the Palmerston North team rises above all other teams by the fact they have been together for such a long time.

Combos between players like Hilal and team captain Ali Al Shibli can break down the tightest of defences and open the floodgates of goals.

Hilal, one of the candidates for the golden boot, has shown strong resolution in taking out the competition this year and breaking team Penalty's strong grip hold on the title. Best of the luck team!

Player Watchout 4: Hicham Kamri

Arabuni Futsal is no stranger in hosting international players from the Oceania region. However, new to this year's tournament is the presence of Moroccan futsal international Hicham Kamri.

Hicham was part of the Moroccan futsal campaign that played in the Cairo Arab championship. He is currently the star card in Wellington United's arsenal scoring a hat-trick in his last game - the last goal being described in the local papers as a volley from the edge of the box.

Supported by a strong Wellington'ian team, Hicham might well be the new discovery of Arabuni Futsal and a candidate for the golden boot.

Player Watchout 3: Bakr Al Saudi

Current New Zealand futsal captain, and Arabuni Futsal organiser Bakr Al Saudi will be taking part in the tournament and feature for Auckland's team Oman. Bakr's pounding left shot is often overshadowed with his great ability to nutmeg the opponent and bring humbleness to their core. He will definitely be a player that teams need to have a tight lid on.

Enrolment Process

Arabuni enrolment is now open for all interested participants. Like last year, any enrolled team is marked as 'unconfirmed' until payment for enrolment is received. However, new this year is the concept of invitation codes which have been sent out by tournament organisers to a select few teams who we would like to attract to the tournament.

The Arabuni Futsal committee will go through any remaining uninvited teams and approach teams for payment according to their perceived strength and experience in futsal - this is an exercise that is purey done to ensure that the competitive nature of the tournament remains consistent.

Teams can change the player list one day before the tournament by contacting the Arabuni Futsal committee.

Player Watchout 2: Pedro Santos

Brazilian midfielder, Pedro Santos, recently came back to Auckland after finishing a stint playing professionally in the USA. Although usually being a hard person to get hold off, Pedro ensures that he frees his calendar every year for Arabuni.

Pedro is well known for his silky skills (yes, close those legs when he is dribbling a ball near you) and of course most importantly his rasping left footer! Definitely a player to keep an eye on this tournament.

Player Watchout 1: Ross Nicholson

Word just in - Ross Nicholson will be leading the Te Kapa Māori Futsal team in Arabuni this year! For those living under a rock, Ross is an ex-All Whites who has 14 caps on his belt and gone as far as playing in the FIFA Confederations Cup in Mexico 1999!

Ross will be leading the young and passionate Māori futsal team in its first ever appearance in Arabuni. Putting the ball past him in the net might be the achievement of the day for that lucky player.

Teams that fall in the same group with Ross's team are warned to pre-prepare for embracing their chilling Haka!

Introduction

Welcome back folks to another promise of exquisite futsal fashion. October 11th this year marks the return of the much anticipated annual Futsal event of the calendar year - Arabuni Futsal 2009.

Keeping its marker of difference for hosting the toughest and most challenging Futsal tournament in the country, Arabuni Futsal promises this year to maintain its high calibur of skillful teams by sending out special invite codes to secure the best teams in the futsal business.

From the North to the South Island, Arabuni Futsal is bringing teams and players from all walks of life coming under one roof to celebrate again the beauty of the game and the diversity of the blessed land of New Zealand.

This year's tournament keeps its yearly format of buzzing futsal, packed with loud cheering crowds and incredible skills that will surely be worth your time as a player or a spectactor. Take a few minutes to browse through the website and enjoy the hype of the the most anticipated Futsal event of the year... Arabuni Futsal 2009.