Courtesy: UEFA.com

Big Brother is watching Futsal

Thursday, 31 March 2005

By Domenic Aquilina

Futsal has found a whole new audience in Malta after a local television station turned the game into the focus of a reality show.

Internet stars

Net Television Malta, an internet based station, have had a surprise hit with their show 'Net Stars' which tracked the progress of a specially-formed team making their debut in the third division of the Malta Football Association's Futsal league.

Audition process

The enterprise began with hundreds of footballers from the island attending trials. As part of the programme, coaches and television viewers helped to whittle down the initial intake to a squad of 18, who were subsequently joined by former Maltese internationals Michael Degiorgio and Dennis Cauchi.

Major success

While some members of the initial squad were forced to withdraw for personal reasons, Net Stars - led by UEFA A-licensed coach Joe Micallef - were a great success both in the ratings and the league, winning promotion to the second division after a run of ten games without defeat.

Reciprocal gains

And while much of the show's appeal may have lain in the participation of football stars Degiorgio and Cauchi, the eleven-a-side game looks set to make some significant gains from involvement with its Futsal counterpart in time for the start of the 2005/06 Malta Premier League season.

Senior attention

Top-flight sides have been paying close attention to the Net Stars and some of their more prominent players are already being tipped for greater success. Goalkeeper Reuben Grech, defender Andrew Xuereb and strikers Malcolm Camilleri and Luke Muscat have all been offered trials by Premier League teams.

Footballing comeback

A former Under-16 international for Malta, Muscat had already played in the Premier League with Rabat Ajax FC, but the 23-year-old is delighted that the exposure he gained as a Net Stars player may have helped get his footballing career back on track.

Futsal gains

"It has been a wonderful experience," he told uefa.com. "I regard myself as an eleven-a-side player, but playing Futsal has given me a lot of satisfaction. It was my mission to put everything into this new venture, and I think I succeeded. My main priority was repaying the faith our coach Joe Micallef put in me."

Ratings success

The Net Stars show was produced and presented by Net Television sports journalists Christian and Sandro Micallef, who regard the show as having been a major success. "Our main objective at the very beginning was that of winning the viewers' popularity," Sandro Micallef, the son of Net Stars coach Joe, told uefa.com.

Onward, onward

He added: "We reached that target immediately so we went for our second target, which was getting our Net Stars team to win the Futsal division three, section A. We reached that second target too so we are now targeting our third main objective - winning the important Malta Futsal Knock-Out competition."

Important factor

Popularising Futsal in Malta may not have been one of their stated aims, but Net Stars may yet prove to be a decisive factor in bringing the game to the public attention.

'Net Stars' can be watched online every Tuesday night at 20:30 at www.di-ve.com.