Photo credit wikimedia images
If you’ve stayed in this soccer game long enough you will notice that trends come in cycles. It’s a funny ol’ game in every aspect.
Right now, yes this very minute,there’s a general consensus around the world of football that the indoor game futsal is the answer to international soccer’s question: “Why aren’t (insert country of choice here) producing world class creative special players?” You know like the Ronaldinhos and Ronaldos and Neymars of the world.
The answer to that is these guys played small-sided street soccer, otherwise known as futsal, and futsal made them who they are today. Those players have said it themselves and guess what (insert country of choice here) has no futsal culture that’s why (insert country of choice here) is doing so poorly in producing world class creative special players.
I actually believe that!
I do.
I wholeheartedly believe that if, and I will use “America,” that if The United States of America somehow got the ball rolling with futsal that logically in a few years the U.S .would produce that special player everyone is anxiously waiting for.
Oh, and Pele agrees with me!
“Futsal makes you think fast and play fast. You try things, it makes you dribble. It makes you a better player.”
Thanks Pele!
But of course I have heard this before.
In February of 1979, The Ellensburg Daily Record reported “…would you believe this game, which was once described as “all the action of hockey, only you can see what’s being hit around.” holds the key to the future of American Soccer?
Then Major Indoor Soccer League commissioner, Earl Foreman spoke about the lack of American soccer talent and thought that Indoor Soccer would be the way American Soccer players would grow and compete in the world stage.
Foreman said “We’re trying something else, and that’s a big step. We’re making this sport for the American Soccer Player. We’re pioneering something.”
In 1979, Indoor soccer was slowly starting to lose its luster. It was just three years prior when America was facing an indoor soccer boom. Indoor soccer was being talked about in small circles as the sport of the future in America. One that would produce the next Pele.
Gene Edwards,in 1976, then President of the United States Soccer Association said that Indoor soccer was the best way to keep outdoor players in shape. “(It’s) an opportunity to stay in good condition during the three or four months (the players) usually have to lay off. So instead of having to go into an intensive training program when the outdoor season begins…they can arrive in good shape.”
The headline in the Milwaukee Journal that quoted the President read “ Indoor Soccer Booming”
Flash forward to 1981 and Indoor soccer was still “booming” but not a household name. Dave Reeves, from the Lakeland Ledger wrote “ (The) absence of complicated strategies, coupled with prolific scoring, gives the indoor game a future among fans, who are still learning the ins and outs of soccer.”
For a time in America, Indoor Soccer was the sport of the future. A sport where American soccer players could play week in and week out while the foreign players played outdoor soccer. The superstars played for the entertainment of the American soccer fan while hardworking American soccer players honed their craft and became better soccer players while playing inside.
Indoor soccer in America was created to give time to American Soccer players. Who in theory would go on and play for the National team.
Earl Foreman, in 1980, said “We wanted to be the (sport) where no American would wind up holding Beckenbauer’s warm up jacket”. Ironically in 1984, USA Men’s National team member Julie Vee said “Tell the rest of the world to go on playing in the mud and rain….the future of American Soccer is indoors.” By years end, the NASL indoor league essentially folded. The Major Indoor Soccer League continued but the indoor game was never the same.
Throughout the heyday of the NASL indoor league and the MISL, the underlying theme was that the indoor game would be the place where American soccer players would learn their craft and become world class players. More importantly they could go toe to toe with the same players from around the world at International level. History shows that not to be true. During the Golden age of American Soccer…or whatever the 1970’s are being called at this moment….The US did not produce…I’ll get lambasted by my friends who actually played for the USA back then for saying this… “special” players and the US did not qualify for any World Cups.
Flash forward to today. After the U.S. team were beaten by Argentina at the Copa America Centenario, the soccer world was (and still is) abuzz about indoor soccer and more importantly futsal. The common thread among coaches, players, know-it-alls, pundits etc etc is that American players do not have the touch or skill that perhaps Brazilian players have or players that grew up playing indoor or futsal. This idea has not just been focused in the US but abroad to European countries where the outdoor game is ingrained in their culture.
Scotland, after failing to qualify for the Euros, is becoming more focused on Futsal.
Scotland Fustal Head Coach, Mark Potter told FIFA.com “A few years ago, one of the high-ranking SFA officials went over to Brazil and came back raving about futsal. He saw that there was a clear link between futsal and producing football players, and that’s where the development link was established. And the minute the association accepted it as a tool to develop footballers, that was when it got traction. I’ve always firmly believed that futsal can make better footballers. It can also help develop the kind of players that Scotland seems to have stopped producing. Right back as far as I can remember, it was the wingers – the skilful, technical players – who excited me. That was a big part of the Scottish football culture and I’d love to see it coming back. If futsal can play a part in doing that, all the better.”
And this is a sentiment heard from almost every country in Europe. From Northern Ireland to you name it. I could pull endless quotes from managers from around the world that hail Futsal as the key to better outdoor football.
In the US. Next year. The new Professional Futsal League will begin. I for one cannot wait.
In an interview for Urban Pitch Keith Tozer, the commissioner was asked by one of the best soccer interviewers in the world- “There seems to be a world wide consensus that Futsal is the key to a better National Outdoor football team. What’s your opinion?”
To which Tozer replied “ I’m 100% behind it! This is what I’ve been saying for years! Why do other countries have special players that can do special things? Now our National Team, both men and women have some special players but do we have a long bench of those special players? Like a Messi? Like a Neymar who can do special things at important moments? And what is Futsal really? It’s Street Soccer!
If a young player passes the ball more, has to think and react quicker…well…why wouldn’t we embrace it? We have thousands of courts throughout the country and in the inner cities. We have under utilized tennis courts, basketball courts. I think we can get the inner city player to go from basketball and into futsal and then futsal being the bridge to football and that’s really the growth of the game.
You look at the Solomon Islands in 2007 and 2008 they asked them selves if they could make a mark on the world with football and they said no but with futsal we can. Spring forward a few years and they’ve won Oceania and some of their players are playing professional football because of futsal. I’m a firm believer that futsal will be another component to helping create that player we need in our country.”
You can listen to Tozer and his entire interview here!
After bad showings at tournaments, countries are now pushing Futsal and Indoor soccer as a way of producing a more well rounded outdoor soccer player. It looks like this form of football is on it’s way back. Ronaldo would have never been Ronaldo if it wasn’t for Futsal. The US could not and did not produce a Ronaldo type player back in the heyday of the indoor game. That’s unfortunate. The general soccer climate wasn’t there in my opinion.
Will the next generation of US football superstars come from the Futsal courts? I say yes! The proper management is in place now. There are superstars that can promote the game and more importantly…there’s a general understanding Futsal is not a seperate offshoot of the outdoor game. It’s a integral part of it. Watch this space!
