Falcão, Futsal God

• This article was taken from one of the most popular Croatian sports websites Telesport.hr. The original text was written by the Croatian sports columnist Juraj Vrdoljak, and this text is our free translation from Croatian.

Rarely in sport have we witnessed such a moment as that late-September day in 2016 in Bucaramanga, Colombia.

Brazilian national futsal team, one of the ultimate favorites for clinching World Futsal Cup, played its second-round match against Iran, a team that found itself here through the qualification of third-ranked teams in the group stage. Brazilians have charged through their group with three victories, including 29:5 goal difference and everyone expected that their qualification to the eighth-finals will bring what masses have expected: at least two more hours of magic by Alessandro Rosa Vieira, known throughout the world by his nickname Falcão. Best futsal player of all times, who came to this tournament to clinch the record of an all-time scorer in the history of the World Cup.

Shocking turn of events that day, however, offered a different story. Falcão scored three goals during regular time and broke all-time scorer record, but tough Iranians managed to score back each time bringing the final result to 4:4 draw. The winner had to be decided by a six meters shootout where even bigger catastrophe struck Seleção: Ari hit the crossbar and Brazil could only get back into the match if Iranians miss as well. Ahmad Esmaeilpour had the honor of bringing a historical success to the Iran national team as he realized the last, crucial penalty kick.

Getting eliminated was not the biggest shock — it was the thought that this could be the end for Falcão, that the end has to come even for the biggest icons of the game. Iranians knew that as well, so instead of celebrating their historical success on their own, they started to lift Falcão in the air — as if they did not want to arouse the wrath of futsal gods. It was a true demonstration of respect towards the sport, not just to the result. Of course, one player never makes an entire sport, but very few players have done more for one sport than Falcão did for futsal.

In a country such as Brazil, where everyone at least tries to play futsal once and many are brilliant in it, this was truly a huge success.

‘First in the village’

Futsal is governed by the law of space, more than in football. Tighter marking on the smaller surface leaves little space on the ball, so every move that the player makes has to be carefully designed and weighted. That usually implies the need for improvisation, because often a better defensive play means more problems while searching for usable passes in front. This is where one’s ability to dribble in small surfaces comes to the scene, in order to create that surplus on the pitch. Harder and riskier, but very effective if done with style.

These abilities and development of such techniques, which are learned from a very young age, are very helpful if a player decides to make a move that many young futsal players take — transition to ‘big’ football. Trends are directing the football game to ever smaller and narrower space and of course that skills one can acquire by playing futsal are very useful. If you are an extraordinary futsal player, that does not mean at all that you are ready for the adaptation on a big pitch, however.

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