The Street Football Movement — Neymar Jr’s Five Tournament

Street football (or street soccer for most Americans) in Los Angeles is its own beast.

It’s a unique force, perhaps even a sleeping giant, and ambassadors of the sport know this. Where else in the world can you get such a melting pot of skill and style? Los Angeles’ beauty and trademark is rooted in its diversity, the culmination of nationalities, ethnicities, and life experiences. This is where skill converges in a multitude of shapes and colors, and when it comes to street soccer, it’s a force to be reckoned with.

Neymar Jr’s Five — LA Qualifier, April 2016

It wasn’t something that could be seen, or heard, or even touched. But you could feel it all around you. Something in the air. Stepping foot on the parking-lot-turned-street-football-pitch at the Neymar Jr’s Five Tournament, it was obvious, like a dawning. Something big was happening here, beyond sponsorships from Red Bull and perhaps even Neymar himself. As media outlets poured in to cover 32 hopeful street football teams, the level of competition was set high, but this event wasn’t about rivalry. It was about a shared love of the beautiful game in its most raw and commonly played form — on the street.

The concrete pitch could be found on the corner of Olympic and Figueroa, smack dab in the middle of downtown L.A., with only a metal fence and a few steps of sidewalk to separate us from the bustle of the Saturday brunch crowd. In the early morning hours, a spirited Red Bull team worked hastily to set up for the day’s events as young ballers from around the greater Los Angeles area waited anxiously for their turn at tournament glory. The prize? A ticket to Miami to compete in the National Finals, and a path to Brazil where they’d play again for the grand prize, a chance to be Neymar’s guests at an FC Barcelona match at the famous Camp Nou.

THE SURGE IN POPULARITY OF STREET SOCCER FEELS SIMILAR TO THE WAY SKATEBOARDING STARTED TO TAKE OFF IN THE ’90S.

In street football, there is no over-organizing or the kind of traditional filter to rank players based on stats, points, or any of that bologna. What you get is a blend of skills, styles, and experience, and everyone knows each other from local leagues and pickup games. The Neymar Jr’s Five contest had crews of five compete in intense, 10-minute games. With every goal scored, the opposing team was forced to drop a player, making the initial point a key factor in each match. This player-elimination style was Red Bull’s unique twist on small-sided tournament play, concocted by Neymar himself, so ballers could showcase their individual finesse and flair when the opportunity presented itself, while the more strategic of the crews kept it simple and smart.

While the tournament continued and narrowed down to a handful of teams, the bottomless supply of Red Bull and slick hip hop tracks laid down by a live DJ kept the crowds and players sufficiently energized. In the end, two incredibly skilled teams that couldn’t have been more different in technique, flair, and hustle made it to the championship. The Janoskians and team Bola. While both teams qualified to go to Miami by making it to the final match, it was the tactical prowess, physical domination, and next-level ball handling of Bola that secured the crew’s victory in LA.

While all ballers on team Bola were unique in style and decked to a tee with tekkers that would make any defender’s head spin, it was 18-year-old Ulises Vidal Perez, aka Peewee, that shined the most at times. When asked about the experience, Peewee glowed with appreciation. “We never played with each other before this, so I was nervous, and I’m nervous for Miami, but how amazing is this,” he told us. Peewee was quick to give assurance that his trip to Florida would not be taken for granted, “I’ve never had an opportunity like this in my life! I just don’t know what to say.”

STREET SOCCER AS A WHOLE, IT ENCOURAGES CREATIVITY, IT DRIVES THE DESIRE TO BE UNIQUE AND THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX …

Like all great things, the day came to a reluctant end. The Red Bull team hustled to close up shop and prepare for their next stop: Phoenix, Arizona. The once-jam packed lot returned back to bare asphalt & cement, and now only the frustration of the honkaholics in the nearby intersection filled the air.

Among the last of the crew members left was Eddie Salcedo, the man who tirelessly conducted the progression of the tournament all day, with a microphone always on the ready. “What this does, and not just this event, but street soccer as a whole, it encourages creativity, it drives the desire to be unique and think outside the box,” Salcedo reflected. “For the better of the game, it helps that younger players can get into street soccer and futsal. Today, we had players that are from L.A. but all with broad and diverse backgrounds. Many different styles, many different skills and finesse.”

“This mixture was the embodiment of street soccer in L.A.”

Photography by Imad Bolotok, Nick Diamond, and LAFC

Street Football is already here in the US. Please check out Urban Pitch to read more about street football & freestyle, or Urban Futsal LA’s YouTube Channel to see what LA’s futsal movement looks like.