Courtesy: AOL Sports


American Soccer Needs More Futsal

by David J. Warner

Several weeks ago, Tom Dunmore of Pitch Invasion wrote about his trip to a Major Indoor Soccer League game in this piece for Chicago Sports Weekly, highlighting the curious combination of the world's game with typical American sports glitz.

Soccer purists sometimes sneer at what they see as a bastardized version of the world's game and perhaps fear its ability to draw fans during its long and unappreciated history, seeing it as a competitor to the 11-a-side game. Unlike the outdoor game, goals are at less of a premium, removing one of the complaints often heard about soccer but also upsetting traditional fans.

Tom noted that the MISL's "hectic rock music-fueled extravaganzas" came to influence both the NFL and Arena Football. He also noted indoor soccer in America is very different from indoor soccer in the rest of the world.

In the most successful soccer nation, Brazil, a different variety of indoor soccer with a contrasting style, futsal, has become the most practised form of soccer in the country. ... Futsal, a five-a-side game, is demarked by lines and not walls, thus slowing the pace of the game and demanding more of players technically.

MISL may be the top indoor soccer league in the U.S., but futsal, the indoor soccer game sanctioned by FIFA, is the game American soccer players should be playing. Here's why.

Because of its walls, the MISL game emphasizes speed and strength in its players. Futsal, with its basketball-sized court and undersized ball, emphasizes quick reflexes, accurate passing and ball-handling creativity. As Robinho says in the video below, which features himself and fellow Brazilian Falcao, strength can't beat intelligence, and intelligence on the futsal court translates onto the full-sized pitch.

Intelligence and creativity are skills found in (and valued by) the best players in the world. Ronaldinho plays futsal.

Zinedine Zidane plays futsal.

Both those players have won the World Cup and the UEFA Champions League, plus the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year honors. That's not to say futsal automatically brings those awards to everyone who plays, but it serves as a valuable tool for improving technique, and it can help transform very good players into great players.

What's more, futsal lends itself to a flair usually found in street sports like basketball. And why not? Soccer is a street sport in many countries. Take a look at this video and tell me it doesn't look just a little of an AND1 highlight reel.

You don't see flashy tricks like that MISL matches. MISL's brand of indoor soccer practically demands cheerleaders and loud music to keep the audience's attention -- something two street-smart futsal sides could do all by themselves.

Despite the advantages it has for players, futsal maintains only a small niche in American soccer -- as opposed to countries like Argentina, Brazil, Spain and Italy, nations that frequently contend for the World Cup. The U.S. Futsal Federation continues its efforts to grow the sport in America, but it receives very little help from Major League Soccer and United Soccer Leagues. Those leagues' players could improve their skills quite a bit through playing futsal. Instead, most USL players play for MISL clubs during the offseason.

Futsal is also growing at the grass-roots level in New York, thanks to the efforts of FC Harlem, whose executive director, Irv Smalls Jr., is turning unused corners of the city into futsal courts with an eye toward making street soccer as popular as street basketball.

"In the rest of the world, soccer is an inner-city sport,"” Mr. Smalls said. "“I want to work on this perception that it’s a white sport in this country, and played only out in the suburbs.”"

Perhaps what futsal really needs to grow in America, though, is a professional league of some sort. Such a league doesn't need to be a large endeavor in the beginning. Several small indoor football leagues, like United Indoor Football and the Continental Indoor Football League, started small and have managed to survive several years with no television coverage and minimal promotion.

All those minor football leagues play by different rules, though, so they can't organize interleague games. An American futsal club could play against any other club on the planet. What's more, futsal clubs have the ability to develop young players that could develop into world-class talents down the road. Perhaps Mark Cuban's ideas for making money in basketball could be used for futsal instead. Soccer clubs around the world are always looking for new outlets for talent.

The European clubs are only starting to look to the U.S. for talent, though, and much of that talent doesn't have the best reputation. (*cough* Fulham *cough*) Perhaps if the next generation of players learned their skills on the futsal court like the players in continental Europe and South America, the U.S. national team might have a shot of winning more than just the CONCACAF Gold Cup one day. So how do we get this ball rolling?






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