Thailand banking on Futsal

Courtesy FIFA.com

19 Nov 2003

The rise and rise of futsal continues unabated on the Asian continent. Between 20 and 23 November, Thailand will have a chance to sate its newfound taste for indoor competition, with the staging of the country’s first ever international futsal tournament, the Thailand 5s. The event, to be contested by world champions Brazil, Japan, Russia and the host country’s national team, will also serve to kickstart preparations for the 2004 FIFA Futsal World Championship.
Head of the Thai Futsal Federation, Adisak Benjasiriwan, is well aware of the interest in the competition and its importance in the run-up to even bigger events. “It’s a real privilege to take on teams like Brazil, Russia and Japan. We’re going to learn a lot, but we’ll also be out to show the others what we can do. They would do well not to underestimate us.”

One ace up the sleeve of the home team is the experience of their Argentine coach, Vicente De Luise, who recently spoke with FIFA.com on the country’s progress in this particular discipline. “Thailand can point to clear improvement at this level during the last Asian Championships. The big challenge today consists of creating a solid foundation for futsal in schools and embedding it within society. The authorities have always shown great interest. If the youngsters apply themselves, Thailand could become one of the world’s leading futsal nations within the next few years.”

Brazil’s coach, meanwhile, will be endeavouring to restore his team’s reputation, which lost some of its lustre during a first defeat at the Copa América Paraguay 2003. While they have booked their place at Chinese Taipei 2004, the team schooled by Fernando Ferretti were defeated by Argentina and subsequently condemned to second place, a failure tantamount to treason for the kings of the discipline. The Seleção will this time be travelling with Falcão and Fininho, who missed out on Brazil’s last trip to Asia for the KL World 5s. They will, however, have to cope without the influential pair of Tatu and de Neto, both of whom picked up injuries during warm up games.

The mood in the Russian camp is likely to be downcast, in the wake of their surprising failure to make Chinese Taipei 2004. They will, however, benefit from the experience of Andreï Youdine, whose formidable competitive spirit belies his 36 years. Other ones to watch include Nikolaï Arefiev and Petr Kapkov, who will be bidding to fill the voids left by Serguëi Malychev and Viatcheslav Moskalenko.

The Japanese, captained by ex-football player turned futsal convert Shinnosuke Kamimura, will be doubly determined as they make the short trip to Thailand. Indeed, the team managed by Michito Harada has a twofold objective: to confirm their status as a continental power and show that the fine 5-3 victory over Belgium was no flash in the pan. The Japanese ranks should be swelled by the return of current stars Takaaki Ichihara, Yuuki Kanayama and Osamu Nambata, who were absent from the Pyramid Cup contested in Egypt.

The Thai Football Federation, which organises the event in collaboration with Krippe Worldwide, next year plans to extend the competition format to encompass 8 teams. This increase would serve to confirm futsal’s growing cachet on the Asian continent.

Match schedule:

20 November :
Thailand – Russia
Brazil – Japan

21 November :
Thailand – Japan
Brazil – Russia

22 November :
Thailand – Brazil
Japan – Russia

23 November :
Final
3rd place play-off