Did anyone catch the futsal match last night at 1:00 A.M. on FSW? I had heard about futsal, but never seen it played. The individual ball skill was very good, but the palyer fitness was not. The court they play on is smaller than a basketball court. The game las night was Italy v. Uruguay. Italy's keeper looked like he was 5' 8 and 200 lbs! I think Dallas Inter (local club team) uses futsal for their player training. Pretty cool game it seems.
I wish futsal would catch on more here in the states. It's a great training tool for developing players, and much more difficult than indoor soccer. Most matches I've seen are played on a basketball court.
I played it in South America. It's quick and alot of fun..It is usually played on a basketball court. But sometimes the fields are a little smaller depending on where you play at. I played at a school that was the same size as a basketball court,and another place that wasn't.The only drawback I saw was that you don't get alot of shooting oportunities.So, if you play alot of Futsol when you get outdoors you never want to shoot until you are two feet from the goal. Futsol is everywhere in Peru, which is maybe why they never qualify for the Copa..
That was a basketball court they we're playing on?! Damn, those guys we're sliding all over the place, their legs must be burned like hell afterwards. In all honesty...I don't think that was a b-ball court...looked like a kinda turf
I've heard in Mexico they play it on turf a lot. Even the kids play it there in youth leagues. Seems to be very popular in Mexico. It would be a great idea on turf in inner city areas in the U.S. where there isn't much land available.
Last nigth they had Egypt vs. Argentina, very entertaining. This tournament was apparently played in the second half of November so you can find the results online. I thought last night was going to be Brazil vs. Uruuay (or Italy, can't remember who they played first)... I hope it's on tonight.
it is also played with a small, slightly HEAVIER ball than a soccer ball. Believe it or not, the USA has a pretty good track record in Futsal on a international level. Even more bizarre is that Ex-Dallas Burn fan "favorite", Teddy Eck, was a regular on the US National Fustal team, and played in a couple of the Futsal World Cups... yup, its true!
You don't think having a relatively small population has anything to do with that? Brazilians play futsal a lot also. I remember reading that stuff about Eck and futsal. Things that make you go hmmmmm...... That was a basketball court, and there wasn't any turf. Just make a rule about slide tackling if you want on a basketball court--it's an offensive game IMHO to work on offensive skills in a smaller sided, tightly confided atmosphere.
I think that Egyptian tourney that FSW is showing was played on a Futsal-specific court, but you certainly can play it on a basketball court. I played a little in junior high in Sao Paulo where we had futsal specific court (concrete surface, not whatever they're using in Egypt, which looks a bit softer), but we also used basketball/ handball/ volleyball courts. The lines start to get really complicated when you have four different games' lines on the same court - makes football lines on a soccer field look like nothing. FSW or FSE - can't recall which - also showed the FIFA Futsal world championship that was held recently in Guatemala. The level of play in that tourney was much better than what they've had in this friendly tourney in Egypt - and I don't think the players were quite as fat.
How recently was that tournament? I thought the World Cup was next year again. The European Championships will be in February 03 though.
It was in 2000 (seemed recent to me ). Here's the official site for Guatemala 2000 with all sorts of interesting stuff: http://www.fifa.com/futsal/2000/index_E.html