Video Picks ... This Month's Saucy Servings Includes Everything from Xavi to Richardinho to Falcao

Xavi loves futsal and Spain's national team

     Xavi follows Spain’s futsal team in Euro 2012. In an interview he has praise for the sport’s qualities.

http://www.uefa.com/futsaleuro/video/videoid=1747951.html?autoplay=true

 

     Highlights, Russia 4 – Croatia 2, 2012 Euro Futsal Championship semifinals. Not the greatest video quality, but Russia’s ball movement is much smoother than Croatia’s, which seems a bit mechanical. Both Croatia goals – the hosts recovered from a 4-0 deficit – might’ve been stopped to preserve a clean sheet. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=3CGvpTTpdug

Ricardinho is resourceful for Portugal and Benfica

     Ricardinho, one of the world’s best futsal players – second only, perhaps, to Falcao, flicks a beautiful goal over Azerbeijan’s goalie in a 4-1 Portugal win. Notice how quickly he sees the opportunity and reacts. Combine that with his technique and the result is a highlight goal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=KfunX-RUZdc

     When two teams combine for 17 goals in a EURO tournament game, highlights are going to take five-plus minutes. That’s the case here in Serbia’s 9-8 win over Azerbeijan. Notice how Azerbeijan brings its goalie into the attack late in the game and scores two goals to narrow the margin. The tactic eventually costs the losers a goal as a Serbian shoots into an empty net.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=XdqtvuKoebA

     The Euro quarterfinal between Italy and Portugal offers lots of scoring chances – but some exceptional goalkeeping. When Italy breaks through to score the first goal, it’s an own goal, the result of a blameless effort to clear by Portugal defender Arnaldo of Benfica. Check out the set up pass from Portugal’s No. 9 to Richardinho. His quick change of direction and passing touch are beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P__SlADEYXQ&feature=related

Falcao is, well, Falcao

     And now, for the gratuitous Falcão portion of the program … a highlight video from www.insideworldsoccer.com. Great production value, even though the quality of the action segments is uneven. There’s nothing that compares to Falcão’s ingenuity with the ball. The introductory art work and music are ideal packaging for the master.   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwkhh-cd-E0  

Images: A closer look in stop action at a high-energy U.S. Futsal Championships match between Sporting Juniors U-16 and the Blue Valley Soccer Club

Sporting Juniors, in the dark jerseys, took on a team from Blue Valley Soccer Club at the U.S. Youth Futsal Nationals in Kansas City. (Photos by David Knopf|Futsal World)

When two teams of aggressive, skillful high school boys match up, the challenge is to find space and play with finesse and composure.

But sometimes, sheer athletic ability and commitment, as in this fully extended tackle, can save the day.

At halftime, Academy Director and U-16 Sporting Juniors Coach Jon Parry (center, on touchline) showed his team how he wanted them to space themselves and play more of a rotating passing game, almost a weave.

Sporting Juniors had more of the offense in their 4-1 win, but BVSC kept the Academy team's scoring down with a stout defense. When Blue Valley did manage to break through for a shot itself, the Juniors' keeper came up big on several occasions.

With space at a premium, an imaginative, smaller player like Sporting's Seo-in Kim used his quickness and skill to put pressure on opponents.

But when three defenders close in, even a crafty player like Kim needs to find the open teammate and move into space for a return pass.

Year of firsts for U.S. Youth Futsal, which produces national champions, finalists in 19 divisions

By David Knopf

Futsal World Editor

     The 2011-12 season will be remembered as a year of milestones for the organization formerly known as the Super F League.

     The tone was set when the league announced that it had changed its name.  In late July 2011, a news release quoting  Director of Development John Sciore and League Director Jon Parry announced that the nation's only national futsal organization affiliated with U.S. Soccer -- the United States Soccer Federation -- would now be referred to as United States Youth Futsal.

     "The initiative has always been to develop youth futsal throughout the United States, so it is only appropriate to adopt a name that best reflects that mission and our expanding role in the process," Sciore said.

On the eve of the 2011-12 season, U.S. Youth Futsal had 35 leagues operating in more than 25 states, with 1,500 teams in such metropolitan areas as Boston, Cleveland, Kansas City, South Jersey/Philadelphia and St. Louis.

     It's grown steeply since then, thanks to a concerted development push by Sciore, himself a league owner, and by Parry and Peter Vermes, the other two-thirds of U.S. Youth Futsal's leadership team.

    
     “We started back in 1997 as the Kansas City Futsal League with five teams and here we are 14 years later having grown into the leading futsal supporter in the U.S. with a presence in 35 cities and counting,” said Parry. “Introducing US Youth Futsal as the new brand represents the rapid growth of not just our organization, but also the game of futsal in this country.”

     In addition to growing from around 15,000 players to more than 20,000 by the conclusion of the season, USYF reached several milestones. For the first time, the U.S. Futsal Nationals was held at a single site -- the state-of-the-art Overland Park Convention Center and hotel complex. Six courts were trucked in and assembled in the center's meeting area, and thanks to an innovation by Otto Orf's USYF league in Ohio, games on all six courts were streamed live for anyone with Internet access.

Vendors greeted players and families as they entered the arena.

     There were the usual futsal balls, t-shirts and hoodies for sale, but for the first time vendors -- including Major League Soccer's Sporting Kansas City -- lined the assembly hall lobby with information, souvenirs and giveaways.

     It was also the first occasion in which the U.S. Futsal Nationals surpassed the usual tournament atmosphere. It had become an occasion, a happening.

     The night before the tournament, Spanish Futsal Coach Ivan Pico Martinez, a former professional player in Spain's elite Liga Nacional, led a clinic for coaches.

     The number of teams at the tournament -- 109 -- was almost a 20-percent increase over the 91 that played in 2011.

     It was icing on the cake, but five of the 19 finals held on President's Day -- a Monday, another USYF first -- were taped by Metro Sports, a Kansas City all-sports cable station and rebroadcast with both play-by-play and color commentators on Feb. 26 and broadcast again a few days later.

     It was a heady year for a league that started with just five teams in 1997. With the organization's strong leadership and its ties with Sporting KC, plans are already in motion for more firsts in 2012-13. Stay tuned to our newsletter, USYF's Facebook page, Twitter messages and the league Web site, www.usyouthfutsal.com, for the latest news.

2012 U.S. Futsal Nationals -- Champions and Finalists

Division                                           Champion                       Finalist

Boys U9/U10                                                       BVSC Stars Sundowns                   GLF All Stars

Boys U10                                                            GLF All Stars                                 BVSC Nautico

Boys U11                                                            GLF All Stars                                 BVSC Stars Toros

Boys U!2                                                             BVSC Stars Porto                         BVSC Stars Generals

Boys U13/14                                                        Sporting KC Croatia U13               99 SportsTutor Ligers

Boys U14 Super Group                                         Sporting KC Jrs. Italy                   Magical Futsal Acad.

Boys U15                                                             Sporting KC Jrs. Portugal             Sporting BVSC U15

Boys U16 Premier                                                AVFC Premier Black                     DCFA BU 16 Boca Jrs.

Boys U16 Super Group                                         BNC Revolution A                          U16 Sporting KC Jrs.

Boys High School Super Group                              U16 Sporting KC Jrs. Uruguay       Sporting BVSC 95/95

Girls U8/U9                                                         Panathinaikos U-9 Academy           BVSC Stars Sun City

Girls U10                                                             Rockers                                        KC Select Fury

Girls U11                                                             BVSC Stars Cosmos                       Lou Fusz Elam-Red 

Girls U12                                                             00 SportsTutor                             BVSC Stars Benfica

Girls U13                                                             Pink Panthers                               DCFA GU13 Santos

Girls U14                                                             Sporting BVSC 97/98                    Samba U14 Black

Girls U15/U16                                                      PASA FC                                       Sporting BVSC White

Girls U16/U17                                                      Fury                                             KC Strikers Black

Girls High School Super Group                              Re-United                                     DCFA Palmeiras     

Have a question, comment or story idea? Contact the editor at davidknopf48@gmail.com.            

Coaches, players treated to clinic by Ivan Pico Martinez, a Spanish futsal coach and former professional player

By David Knopf

Futsal World Editor

     German Arguelles' profession is to arrange sports tours and guide teams through the maze of foreign travel.

     But it took more than tickets and an itinerary to get Spanish futsal coach Ivan Pico Martinez to Kansas City for the U.S. Youth Futsal Nationalst.

Ivan Pico Martinez, right, was assisted by German Arguelles.

Martinez, manager of Azkar Lugo, a team in the Spanish professional league, led a coaches' clinic on the eve of the first tournament games at the Overland Park Convention Center.

     His path to Kansas City was fortuitous -- and a matter of the right connections.

Jon Parry, director of U.S. Youth Futsal, was in Holland earlier this year as a member of Peter Vermes's coaching staff with Generation adidas, a team of Major League Soccer players. Vermes manages MLS' Sporting Kansas City franchise, while Parry serves as academy director of Sporting Juniors. Both are former U.S. National Futsal Team players.

     During their trip, Parry asked Aguelles if he had any dealings with futsal in Europe. As it turns out, Aguelles is acquainted with Javier Lozano, the former Spanish National Futsal Team manager and current president of Spain's Liga Nacional Futbol Sala.
The league is considered the best in the world.

     "German was coming to Kansas City and said we'd talk some more," Parry said.

Azkar Lugo is in Liga Nacional, Spain's professional league.

     The talk led to Arguelles and Lozano helping connect Parry with Martinez, who before turning to coaching spent seven years playing for Azkar Lugo in the Liga Nacional.

     As the overseer of all levels of youth development for Azkar, Martinez had the perfect resume to share his futsal knowledge with American coaches and players. In fact, as head of his club's academy, his responsibilities in Spain were very similar to Parry's in the U.S.

     "They're like the Barcelona of futsal over there," Parry said of Azkar Lugo's emphasis on developing its first-team players from the academy. "They want to have eight or nine of their guys to be from their academy."

 Sporting Juniors Director Jon Parry

     Although Martinez's English is limited, Arguelles is fluent and served as his assistant and interpreter at the clinic. While Martinez was setting up drills for a group of Parry's Sporting Juniors players, Arguelles walked the court's perimeter to explain to coaches in attendance what the structure and purpose of each drill was.

     The fast-paced, 90-minute training session had the Sporting players moving from one drill to another. Some of the drills seemed familiar, while others broke new ground for the high school-aged Sporting players.

Martinez worked with a group of Sporting KC Juniors players.

     Arguelles assisted Martinez in setting up the session, but even with his limited English the Azkar coach spoke the universal language of soccer and the players caught on quickly.

     Parry said U.S. Youth Futsal had invested in bringing Martinez to Kansas City to spark new ideas for American coaches in planning their own training sessions.

    "We've invested a lot in the league this year," Parry said.

It's not the first time the USYF national tournament has featured a coaches' clinic. Keith Tozer, coach of the U.S. National Futsal Team and a FIFA Futsal Clinician, led the session in 2011.

     This year's tournament drew 109 teams a healthy jump from the 91 that came a year ago.

Have a story idea or comment? You can contact David at davidknopf48@gmail.com.

619 Futsal in San Diego doing its part in helping to make stars

Game action from 619 Futsal's first season in San Diego.

(The following article appeared on the Web site www.futsalnation.com in January under the headline "Futsal Helps Make Stars." It was written by Stephen Prendergast and is reprinted here with permission of the Web site's editor, Diane Brandis Scavuzzo.) 

By Stephen Prendergast

     Pelé. Ronaldo. Ronaldinho. Romario. Sócrates. Zico. Marta. The names read like a who’s-who of Brazilian soccer stars. And there are more who could be added to the list. But beyond being Brazilian stars, what do all of these great players have in common? Futsal. 

     What has been called the “funny little game with the heavy ball” is a huge part of what has made Brazil and Brazilian-trained players such a force in the beautiful game.

     It should be no surprise that futsal, which got its start in Uruguay in the 1930s but its real development in Brazil, has become a major factor in the success of these storied performers.

     A quick review of the numbers tells the tale: Fifteen of the FIFA 100 list of the 125 best living players are Brazilians, one more than either France or Italy, the runners-up in number of players. Eight of the eighteen men’s and five of the women’s FIFA World Player of the Year awards went to Brazilians. Finally, Brazilian players took four of the old Ballon d'Or awards for the European Player of the Year.

     What is it about futsal that creates such success? According to writer Daniel Coyle in The Talent Code, it is something he calls “deep practice.” Coyle points out that up until the late 1950s Brazilian were generally no more successful than many other players from impoverished countries. That clearly began to change when a generation of young players who had grown up on futsal began to hit the international pitch. It was the fast pace and repetition in futsal that helped to make the difference – the “deep practice” that Coyle describes.

     “One reason lies in the math. Futsal players touch the ball far more often than soccer players – six times more often per minute, according to a Liverpool University study” (Coyle, Talent Code). Touching the ball more often causes players to make more decisions and more mistakes – but it is precisely this that creates Coyle’s deep practice.

     And what of non-Brazilian players? No less a star than Lionel Messi, three-time winner of the FIFA men’s player of the year honor, cut his teeth on futsal in Argentina. Other well-known names that have benefited from futsal are Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo and Spain’s Xavi and Cesc Fàbregas.

     The good news is that you don’t have to be from Brazil to benefit from futsal. In San Diego, 619 Futsal has been growing since it first began the planning stages in early 2011. The first regular season featured 58 teams from U-8 through adult, and the Spring League is scheduled to begin March 11.

     Sean Bowers, owner of 619 Futsal and a former member of the U.S. National Futsal Team, started the club to give area players their opportunity to play and learn from the game.

619 Futsal owner Sean Bowers.

     “After 10 amazing years playing futsal against the top national teams in the world, I wanted to bring my experiences to my hometown of San Diego," said Bowers when he spoke with SoccerNation in the summer of 2011. "619futsal will provide a futsal league through which players of all ages and skill levels will have the opportunity to develop the technical side of their game.”

     619 Futsal is affiliated with U.S. Youth Futsal, the nation's only U.S. Soccer-sanctioned youth futsal league.

Bowers said he was extremely pleased with the results of the 619 Futsal Winter League, and was looking forward to an even better Spring. Because the high school soccer season will be over, he expects to see even more participation from the older youth players.

     “Our mission is to provide an environment for players of all levels and ages to play and learn the game of futsal,” said Bowers. “We do this by focusing on skill development and emphasizing fun over winning. We do our best to match teams of similar skill in appropriate divisions and age groups wherever we can.”

     Games are played on Sundays at the Miramar Fieldhouse Gym, which is located next to the Ned Baumer Aquatic Center on the Miramar College campus in San Diego.

     Learn more about 619 Futsal on its Web site, www.619futsal.com

There is also a profile of Sean Bowers and 619 Futsal posted on Feb. 26. Here's the link: http://www.soccernation.com/soccer-coach-and-former-futsal-world-cup-player-sean-bowers-one-on-one-cms-2389

Editor's Take: Why physical play is diluting the benefits of futsal

 

By David Knopf

Editor, Futsal World

     Teams I’ve coached have played futsal since 1997, the year enthusiasts in Kansas and Missouri put together the first leagues in what is now U.S. Youth Futsal.

Journalist David Knopf coaches futsal and soccer.

     If I recall, both leagues began with four teams in a single division, and things were so bare bones that my Missouri league played in the gym of a nursing home that once served as a seminary for aspiring priests.

     The two leagues even got together that year and played a Border Battle exhibition game – Kansas vs. Missouri. As I recall, Kansas was the better team, but all the participants had great fun.

     I recall that one weekend, our sister league in Kansas – having since evolved into one of the largest in the United States – experienced a delay in the delivery of its futsal goals and had to use ours. League organizers drove around 30 miles each way one Sunday to pick up our goals and then return them soon thereafter.

     The Kansas league has come a long way since then, having evolved from Kansas City Futsal to Super F League to the current reincarnation, U.S. Youth Futsal. Who would’ve thought then that USYF would be sanctioned by U.S. Soccer and host a 109-team national tournament with six courts under one roof?

     I still coach outdoor soccer and futsal, and have a U-15 boys team. While I continue to see our boys profit skill-wise and tactically from futsal, there is an area in which I think the game can improve.

     From watching youth futsal in the U.S. and higher-level international futsal games on TV, I observed that our American referees have yet to acknowledge the firewall that should exist between the physicality of outdoor soccer and more finesse-oriented futsal. Why, I wonder, can a UEFA European Championship futsal game played by very powerful grown men be far less physical than a youth game in this country?

     It's because our referees aren't aware or aren't being taught that futsal, as a mostly indoor game played on a hard surface, is more of a finesse game than the physical outdoor game.

     It’s especially true among young referees – high-school-age players themselves – who interpret contact such as shoulder charges, slide tackles and other forms of physical contact the same way they would outside.

     I’ve heard the argument that futsal rules allow more contact than they used to, but when the game is played at the highest level – using the world's best futsal referees – there is a marked absence of physical contact. What becomes obvious is the great individual technique and team play. If you’d like a visual example, check the UEFA 2012 Futsal Championship final between Spain and Italy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG8HY59ffVs

     I don't see a lot of players being knocked off the ball, whether it's with a shoulder charge, a slide tackle or grabbing.

     There are several rules differences between outdoor soccer and futsal, but to protect the spirit of the 5v5 game it's essential to acknowledge that slide tackling (where there is contact with an opposing player, the likelihood that it could occur or simply reckless play) and shoulder charges (where the target is the opponent and not the ball) are fouls and should be called to keep futsal a game that encourages skills, not physicality.

     This is especially true for shoulder charges, as well as use of the hands to detain an opponent. In studying games in person and online,  I see games that are negatively influenced by referees who let the contact go. Players who might otherwise play the game within the non-contact spirit of the rules are forced to meet force with force or concede the advantage.

   
     When that happens, I think the benefits of futsal become diluted. And using the same mindset to officiate futsal and walled indoor soccer is wrong, too, because indoor is cold-weather version of the outdoor sport while futsal is not.

     It is its own game.

     If there’s a simple way to instruct players to play futsal, it is to defend with their feet. Rather than use a shoulder, hands or hip in defending, a player should be taught to lead with his or her feet in trying to win the ball or stop an opponent’s progress.

     And, frankly, that head's-up approach carries over well to defending outdoors.

     There is incidental contact in a futsal game, but if you watch the world’s best teams play futsal – additional highlights linked in the Video Picks section of this newsletter are good examples – there is a minimum of physical play.

     In many ways, skillful play in the outdoor game has diminished because physical defending has evolved to a point where creativity is inhibited. Sadly, a player like Messi – who played futsal as a youth – is an exception to the rule. There are too few Messis and too many players who are being rewarded for their physical domination.

     It’s important that individual referees be aware that the essential spirit of futsal is to encourage technical, skillful play and to leave physical play to the outdoor game. Our game hasn’t grown enough yet to have futsal referees who specialize in the game and don’t also call outdoor soccer.

     Until it has, it will be up to referee assignors and supervisors to reinforce the game’s spirit and emphasize finesse over physical play. There's nothing in the rules or interpretations that says futsal should be just like outdoor soccer.

     As a coach and an admirer of both games, I want my players to get the maximum benefits out of futsal so they a) become better futsal players and b) improve as outdoor players. They won’t do either if referees continue to allow the nature of one game to spill into the other.

     We welcome your opinions! Have a comment or a guest editorial? Contact the editor at davidknopf48@gmail.com

Results-2012 US Futsal Nationals

The results of the 2012 United States Futsal Nationals that was held this past weekend has all been posted. Congratulations to all the winners and finalist. Some beautiful futsal action this past weekend. Special Thanks to Sport Court, Overland Park Convention Center, Our Sponsors, USYF Staff, all The parents, coaches and teams that made it possible. We look forward to seeing you next year as it will be even bigger and better.

Division	Champions	Finalist
Boys U9/U10	BVSC STARS Sundowns 02/03	GLF All Stars
Boys U10	GLF All Stars	BVSC STARS Nautico 01/02
Boys U11	GLF All Stars	BVSC STARS Toros 00/01
Boys U12	BVSC STARS Porto 99/00	BVSC STARS Generals 00/01 White
Boys U13/U14	Sporting KC U13 Croatia	99 SportsTutor Ligers
Boys U14 Super Group	Sporting KC Juniors - Italy	Magical Futsal Academy
Boys U15	Sporting KC Juniors - Portugal	Sporting BVSC U15B
Boys U16 Premier	AVFC Premier Black	DCFA BU16 Boca Jrs
Boys U16 Super Group	BNC Revolution A	U16s Sporting KC Jrs
Boys High School Super Group	U16 Sporting KC Jrs-Uraguay	Sporting BVSC 94/95
Girls U8/U9	Panathinaikos U9G - Academy	BVSC STARS Sun City 02/03
Girls U10	Rockers	KC Select Fury
Girls U11	BVSC Stars Cosmos00/01	Lou Fusz Elam-Red
Girls U12	00 SportsTutor	BVSC Stars Benfica 99/00
Girls U13	Pink Panthers	DCFA GU13 Santos
Girls U14	Sporting BVSC 97/98	Samba 14 Black
Girls U15/U16	PASA FC	Sporting BVSC 96/97 White
Girls U16/U17	Fury	KC Strikers Black
Girls High School Super Group	Re-United	DCFA GU18 Palmeiras

Futsal Clinic at the 2012 US Futsal Nationals

Come join us for our Futsal Clinic with Ivan Pico Martinez at the 2012 United States Futsal Nationals.

When: Friday February 17, 2012.  Time: 7:00pm-9:00pm

Where: Overland Park Convention Center

Ivan’s Futsal Experience: Coach in all lower categories of Futsal in Azkar Lugo Futsal (about 1200 training sessions and 500 matches)
Player of Azkar Lugo F.S. from 1995 to 2002 in all categories (from 12 years to 20 years). Debut with the first team of Azkar Lugo in the First Division on September 2002 vs Inter Movistar.
Ivan Pico Martinez Resume