Andorra to host Germany in two December futsal friendlies

The Andorran national futsal team will play a double friendly against Germany this December, EL PERIÒDIC has learned. The matches are already agreed and only await an official announcement from the Andorran Football Federation (FAF).

Both matches are scheduled at the Serradells sports centre: Friday the 19th and Saturday the 20th, each kicking off at 20:00. The friendlies are intended to help prepare the team for the Premundial, which begins in April next year.

Andorra have improved their coefficients — currently 34th in the UEFA rankings and 55th in FIFA — which could place them in a higher seeding pot for the draw. Head coach Talin Puyalto said the squad will approach the preliminaries as they did in the last Euro prelims, aiming to earn ranking points and boost their chances of advancing.

This would be the first time the two sides meet. Andorra arrive after a strong showing in the Main Round of the Preeuropean in March, finishing third in their group with six points. They drew both matches with the Netherlands (who finished above them with eight points) and suffered their only defeats against Portugal (who topped the group with 12 points). Andorra beat North Macedonia in the final match after drawing the first encounter.

Germany are ranked 24th in UEFA and 47th in FIFA. Coached by Marcel Loosveld, they also finished third in their recent European campaign, level on points with Romania but behind on goal difference, below Ukraine and above Cyprus. Since that tournament they have played four friendly matches (two double fixtures), most recently three weeks ago with two defeats to the Netherlands (3-2 and 4-0) and earlier a 3-3 draw and a 3-1 win against Finland.

Notable German players include Matías Block, an Argentine pivot who recently obtained German citizenship and plays for Active Network in Italy’s Serie A; Suad Uk, a winger for Bielefeld in the German Bundesliga; and Gabriel Oliveira, a winger for Hohenstein-Ernstthal, also in the Bundesliga.