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The beachside location for the Socca Six-a-side World Cup in Crete 2019.
The beachside location for the Socca Six-a-side World Cup in Crete 2019. Photograph: International Socca Federation
The beachside location for the Socca Six-a-side World Cup in Crete 2019. Photograph: International Socca Federation

England go for six-a-side World Cup glory, with a little help from Big Ron

This article is more than 4 years old

On a Crete beach over the next 10 days 40 international teams will battle it out for the trophy with England hoping to go better than the quarter-finals

Transport Paul Pogba’s body double, along with Mark Clattenburg, Ron Atkinson and a Euro 2004 winner to a pop-up stadium on a Greek island and then add 40 international football teams to this already eclectic mix.

It sounds like a fantasy recipe straight from the pages of a comic-book adventure but the Socca World six-a-side Cup in Rethymno, Crete, is real and the, albeit temporary, ground staging the tournament has risen from the Mediterranean shoreline inside 10 days. The organisers claim the virtually-on-the-beach location to be “the most picturesque setting ever for a sporting event”.

The action kicks off on Saturday, running until 20 October. Atkinson serves as England’s director of football, Clattenburg the head of refereeing and Kostas Katsouranis, a 40-year-old former Greece midfielder and key component of the side who won Euro 2004, captains his country. “It’s a big joy for me,” said the two-times Greek footballer of the year. “I wanted to play in a team again. I can’t wait.”

England are captained by Helge Orome. Thirteen years Katsouranis’s junior, the Ivory Coast-born non-league defender has appeared in assorted adverts as Pogba’s body double and is a part-time Adidas model who finds himself at the helm of a 13-man squad embracing a range of day jobs from PE teacher to joinery company sales rep.

Jamie Leggett, England’s manager, hopes to improve on last year’s performance in the inaugural World Cup – won by Germany after a tense final against Poland in Lisbon – when England reached the quarter-finals.

Leggett made enemies north of the border after defecting from his previous job in charge of Scotland late last year but, after winning the recent home nations tournament, seems quietly confident. “We have some very exciting attacking players,” he said. “Players from high levels of non-league football and some who’ve played Football League games.”

Foremost among the latter group is Dean McDonald, a 33-year-old striker who started in Arsenal’s youth system before turning professional for Ipswich and then moving to Gillingham.

In midfield, Kaine Wright graduated from West Ham’s youth system, subsequently appearing for Portugal’s Braga and Marítimo before a short stint in Brazil’s seventh tier, while the goalkeeper-cum-insurance-broker Joe Mant joined Crystal Palace from school.

Leggett’s squad also have the peerless experience of the 80-year-old Atkinson as they embark on a group stage pitting them against Argentina, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Uruguay. The former Manchester United and Aston Villa manager has never been a man to say “no” to a sunshine break and is revelling in absorbing some extra vitamin D.

“I’ve been helping the manager, having a look at some of the training sessions,” Atkinson said. “The emphasis is on quality of passing and pace, keeping the game lively. If people are enjoying things they’ll naturally work harder and be braver. Wherever I managed I always played six-a-side. It needs short, sharp passing skills and is brilliant for developing one-touch football.”

England’s players have had to adjust to Socca with its 40-minute halves, three-minute intervals, sin-bins and highly entertaining twist on traditional penalty shootouts. Instead of the customary spot-kicks, players dribble from the halfway line and have 10 seconds to beat the goalkeeper one on one.

Amid a melting pot of competing countries including Iraq, China, Egypt, Latvia, Pakistan, Hungary, France, Scotland, Wales, Republic of Ireland and USA, Germany and Greece rank as strong favourites. Yet whoever prevails must do so on a pitch of artificial grass surrounded by that rapidly constructed, 3,200-capacity stadium.

Clattenburg’s job is to maintain order, with 13 games crammed into the first day. Once one of England’s – and Europe’s – leading referees he is now officiating in China after a spell in Saudi Arabia but has taken time out for these global championships and their welcome absence of cagily inhibited tactics, fear of defeat and 0-0 draws.

“Socca’s very enjoyable – there’s more touches, more interaction,” he said. “Six-a-side’s very quick; it keeps you fit.”

It also refines close control and hones an adhesive first touch. “Lionel Messi and some of the top players in the world, all played futsal, which is a very similar concept,” Clattenburg said. “Some of the skills at the Socca World Cup are unbelievable. The goalkeepers are at such a high level.”

Small wonder a certain Manchester United midfielder’s body double is relishing the challenge. “It’s a big, big honour,” Orome said. “I just want to do England proud.”

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