The Irish qualifiers in the Neymar Jr's Five, the world's biggest 5-a-side tournament, come to Ireland in a big way starting this weekend. There is still time to register your team in qualifiers taking place in Kilkenny, Waterford, Limerick and Dublin over the next 10 days.
The stakes are pretty high. If your team is good enough, you might just play your way to Brazil. Five-a-side teams in over 50 countries on 6 continents are competing in national tournaments all with the hope of winning their national championship and earning a trip to Brazil to play
We here at Balls.ie are no different. We want to go Brazil. We want to meet Neymar. We want to beat the best 5-a-side teams in the world.
One problem, though. We're not great at football. We're okay, but we'd get found out over a long tournament. That's why we've recruited a pro to join our team and teach us a few things.
That's right, we've enlisted Keith Andrews, capped 35 times for Ireland, as a player-manager. Andrews will bring a mix of experience and ability to make us legitimate contenders for the national title.
And from there, who knows.
Keep an eye on Balls.ie's social channels in the coming weeks as we train for our big qualifier games.
We'll be competing in the qualifying round in Sandymount on April 12. If you'd like to take us on the night, bring it, as they say in the States. If that night doesn't work, there's qualifying rounds taking place across the country in the next few weeks (you can sign up here).
If your team is good enough, you might be heading to Brazil.
See you on the pitch.
