Courtesy: News & Record


Futsal tournament (think 5-on-5 soccer) under way

June 28, 2013

by Jeff Mills

GREENSBORO — The 13th Intercontinental Futsal Cup tournament began its four-day run at the Greensboro Coliseum on Thursday.

It’s the first time the event has been held on U.S. soil. And an American team will be among the six competing.

World United FC, a club based in San Francisco, last played in the tournament in 2007 in Portugal. The U.S. club was a last-minute replacement for Argentina’s Boca Juniors team, which pulled out when club administrators halted operations of the futsal team.

“The best players in the U.S. are on that team, and they’re on a pretty similar level as Boca Juniors,” said organizer Rob Andrews, director of Raleigh-based USA Futsal. “That said, the overall favorites are still the teams from Brazil, Russia and Spain.”

Andrews, a former assistant coach at High Point and Appalachian State, is still pinching himself that those teams are here.
“Everything is coming to fruition,” Andrews said. “It used to be a concept. Now it’s people with real faces who are the best players in the world. They got off planes and are in hotels and doing training sessions. It’s hard being the organizer and not being a fan right now.

“We had some delays with customs and immigration, but the floor’s all set and we’re ready to go. The players everyone wants to see are here, and they’re itching to play.”

One of those players is Intelli Orlandia’s 35-year-old Alessandro Rosa Vieira, known simply as Falcão, who was named World’s Best Futsal Player in 2004, ’06 and ’11. He has played on two Brazilian teams that won the FIFA Futsal World Cup.

The tournament is being played in the coliseum’s main arena. At the same time, the Special Events Center will host a national youth futsal tournament featuring 36 teams and 350 players ages 7 to 18.

The youth tournament features two Greensboro teams, Andrews said. Others come from California, Florida, Texas, Wisconsin, New York and Pennsylvania.

“That’s a fun part of this event,” Andrews said. “Those kids will get to play and also get to see the top futsal players from three continents. Having the American team in the tournament now, they’ll get to see our national players side-by-side with the world’s best.”
Group play in the Intercontinental Cup continues at 5:30 p.m. today. Semifinals are Saturday, with the championship match set for 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

INTERCONTINENT FUTSAL CUP

Where: Greensboro Coliseum

Group 1: World United FC (U.S.); Carlos Barbosa (Brazil); ElPozo Murcia (Spain)

Group 2: Dinamo Moscow (Russia); FSC Glucosoral (Guatemala); Intelli Orlandia (Brazil)

Friday: Games at 5:30 and 8 p.m.
Saturday: Games at 4:30 and 7 p.m.
Sunday: Fifth-place game, 11 a.m.; Third-place, 2 p.m.; Championship, 4:30 p.m.

Tickets: $22 per day Friday or Saturday; $50 weekend (Saturday and Sunday) book; $33 Sunday; parking $5.

Online: intercontinentalfutsalcup.com






Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com