I would like to know opinions about what team will win the next world championship. Russia, Brazil or Spain??? Why USA will not play that competition?
Oh, but they do, and probably will again, or at least try. The US goes through the CONCACAF qualification round, just like in the outdoor WC. Last time, they got beat out by Cuba, who then was beaten like a rug at the WC. The US futsal team is usually made up of players from the now MISL, and the other indoor leagues. They have done well in the past, but there has been a steady decline.
Re: Re: FIFA Futsal World Championship I ask this question in all seriousness - would the US do better if, instead of using indoor players, it used outdoor players with better pedigrees. I don't mean to start an indoor vs. outdoor argument but I don't think it's a stretch of the facts to say that the vast majority of the better talent in this country plays outdoor, and does so exclusively. Obviously that wasn't the case in the late 80s and through the mid 90s which was obviously before MLS and when the US Futsal (or five-a-side) teams did really well internationally. But, those teams also had top outdoor players like Tab Ramos and Peter Vermes and others I don't feel like looking up right now. So, I can't help wondering if the US would do better at Futsal if it had better soccer players playing it. Odds are they wouldn't get the top tier players like Donovan and Mathis - though perhaps they would - but I bet some of the second tier, but still good, MLS players would be up for it. I'm talking about guys like Ross Paule, Diego Gutierrez, Brian Kamler, Paul Broome, Francisco Gomez, Kevin Hartman, Bobby Rhine and even some guys with a handful of caps for the senior outdoor team but likely aren't going to be in the World Cup plans like Jason Kreis, Ante Razov, Richie Williams, Nick Rimando, Chris Albright. Hell, they could even use some former indoor players who are now exclusively outdoor players who have international experience like Preki, Dante Washington, Scott Schweitzer and Jeff Agoos.... OK, maybe not Agoos, but you get the idea. Look, for the most part there is a reason the indoor guys are playing indoors and that's because they weren't good enough to play in MLS. That doesn't mean that all MLS players would be good indoor players but is is unreasonable to surmise that a futsal team made of better soccer players would have a better chance in qualifying or a world chamionship?
Re: Re: Re: FIFA Futsal World Championship Jeff Agoos was a staple on the national futsal team for a while, if I'm not mistaken. The game of futsal has gotten to where if you're going to be good at it on an international level, then you'd better be playing a lot of futsal. It's becoming more and more evident that you need to be a "specialist" in order to succeed at futsal (but hey, it wouldnt hurt to try). Although it looks similar to outdoor, futsal is a totally different animal. That's why the US can't cut it anymore. We proved at the last WC that the US has now "arrived," more or less on the international outdoor scene. But inside, we're still lacking. The indoor players (mostly from the old CISL and NPSL) we have used in the past were fine for that time, but they're beginning to retire, and the ones who are following won't be able to repeat the success of their forerunners. Countries like Brazil, Spain Russia, and the Netherlands have pro leagues from which they get their players. We don't, and probably never will, so we will henceforth be at a disadvantage. Even the likes of Thailand, Japan, and Australia are catching the futsal "bug," and are doing better. Futsal is beginning to catch on just about everywhere except here. I think the silence on the US futsal front as far as sending teams to tourneys like the Tiger 5s and the Genk speaks volumes about our future. Is it the traditional "wall ball" game that's snuffing it out? Is it that USFF isn't really big enough to effectively carry the torch? Is it that USSF has talked a good story, but really doesn't care? I don't know. But I think futsal in this country is on its way to becoming a "novelty" sport, like platform tennis or something, and again, it's the fault of the soccer powers that be for not getting on the stick and promoting it. If it is, as Kenn says, really not worth doing, then we need to just bow out and forget it, and not just pay lip service to it. Just make it an alternative to 11-a-side for kids and adult rec, and screw the WC. Or, let the guys (mostly Brazillians) in San Francisco (which is one of the few futsal hoteds in the US) send an all-star team from their league to the indoor WC. They could probably do as well as our pro "some-timers" could.