Courtesy: www.fifa.com

Mico Martic: “Information is power”

Croatian futsal legend Mico Martic may have retired from the international game but he is very much alive and kicking in the world of the five-a-side sport. The Croat, who captained his country in their sole FIFA World Championship appearance at Guatemala 2000, is almost as well known now for the sensational impact his website, www.futsalplanet.com, has made as for his exploits with the round ball.

There are many burning issues facing the game today, but Martic firmly believes coaching to be the most fundamental that will help raise standards and increase competition in the sport.

“The most important thing in futsal today is coaching,” he told FIFA.com. “Personally I’m a fan of the Spanish system. Their play is based on rhythm and is the most beautiful style in the world. Spanish coaches can teach us how to obtain better results in a more entertaining way. It is the best role model.”

But despite many years of admiration, Martic was only recently converted to modern futsal while attending a coaching course in Spain.

“It completely altered the way I thought about futsal,” he confesses. “Now, I know lots of new things on how to improve a team’s performance. I used to think that defending six metres from your own goal was the best way, but now I believe defending should begin at virtually the same distance from your opponent’s goal.”

Brazil, Spain - a league ahead
Spain and Brazil have shared the four FIFA Futsal World Championships played so far with the South Americans claiming the first three titles and the Iberians the last at Guatemala 2000. Martic acknowledges there is still a noticeable gap between these two and the chasing pack.

“Coaching will help teams become better very quickly,” he says. “At the moment, Croatia play very slowly; it’s almost like watching snooker. I go back home at Christmas and there will be up to 6,000 fans watching a futsal match. But they are eating popcorn or talking and not truly thrilled by the match. I’m sure that when the game improves, they will really get behind the teams and enjoy the spectacle as we saw in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore in the recent KL World 5s and Tiger 5s.”

The Croat and his wife Andreja, who is a psychologist, are awaiting the birth of their first child in Milan, Italy, the country that played host and were crowned champions at the 2003 UEFA European Futsal Championship in February.

“I thought their game was a little slow, but I live in Italy so I’m happy that they won,” he smiles. “Nobody plays as well as the Brazilians, but even they don’t have the tactical sense and team spirit of the Spanish. I think it was their coaching that made all the difference and helped them beat Brazil in the World Championship Final in Guatemala.”

Futsal in the soul
Martic fell in love with futsal at a very young age. It was not a thunderbolt effect but, like so many others, a gradual one ruled by climatic conditions. The harsh winters of the Balkan region brought young Mico and his friends in from the cold where he discovered the wooden surface and the smaller ball better suited his own technique and temperament.

“I played football first, but I quickly realised futsal was my game,” he admits. “It is technically very different, requires better concentration and is largely played with the sole of the foot.”

By the time Mico was 16, he was playing at amateur level in Croatia. To get by, he studied and began developing an interest in IT, which he would later integrate into his passion for futsal. Starring first for Yugoslavia and then for Croatia, Mico was transferred to Verona in 1991. His Italian adventure has since taken him to Milan, Bergamo, Brescia and now Brugherio (Milan), where he has combined playing with working as a computer programmer.

Professionalism, according to Martic, is another necessary development for the sport to flourish. Even in Italy, one of futsal’s major leagues, there are no officially recognised professionals taking part. Martic’s own example of his club helping him find work is fairly typical, but players there officially remain amateurs – albeit compensated ones.

“Spanish coach Javier Lozano said professionals learn to play futsal five times faster than those who are not,” he recalls. “You see the play before it happens so you have time to react. It’s like comparing the NBA to European leagues in basketball.”

Spreading the word on the web
The other major development that can bring the futsal world closer together is the greater availability of information. And here Mico Martic is at the forefront of developments.

“I understood the internet could be a unique opportunity to move futsal information around the world about six years ago,” he reflects. “We are in a great position: finally we have the possibility to obtain information that can increase the quality of futsal.”

Understanding the power of information, Mico set up futsalplanet.com. He still works from his Milan home but is helped by Fabrizio Bombelli from Milan and Luca Ranocchiari from Turin and also by many more people who send in information and news from Kazakhstan to South Africa.

“There is no book in English about futsal. I’m trying to offer everything I find, hear, learn to improve the game as well as offering others the chance to do so too,” he states. “The published FIFA coaching manuals have helped me a great deal to do this.”

Golden Shoe
The website, which has about 50,000 unique visitors per month, recently introduced an award for Europe’s top marksman – the Gems futsal Golden Shoe –, which, like the FIFA World Player of the Year, will be presented annually.

Inundated with questions and requests, Martic is now looking for assistance from national associations to help him spread the futsal gospel.

“It is not always easy,” he sighs. “Because of the lack of information and assistance provided by federations, we are asked any number of things about the game from where to find futsal balls to how to organise matches. I would like to see futsal led by futsal people.”

With this help, Martic firmly believes that in the next few years futsal will really take off. There are already millions of futsal players around the world. According to the Italian Olympic Committee, there are four million registered futsal players in Italy, four times more than footballers. Having experienced his greatest thrill as a 36-year-old captain of Croatia at Guatemala 2000, he is conscious of the impact a successful world championship can have.

“Guatemala was a stunning success,” he recalls. “The atmosphere was great and the games and the final a tribute to the sport. I was at the end of my career but it was my highlight. Chinese Taipei has the chance to take futsal to a new level of popularity.”