By Doug Reed @DougReedFutsal

**EXCLUSIVE**

Jose Maria Pazos, better known as Pulpis, is one of the world’s leading coaches with a wealth of experience and knowledge despite still being only 39 years of age. The Spaniard is currently competing in the Mini Club World Cup in Kuwait as the head coach of Thai team Chonburi Bluewave.

Pulpis was a goalkeeper for Santiago Futsal when at 22 years of age he decided to leave his playing career behind him and start his journey as a coach. And a journey would certainly be the right word to describe his career to date, having coached in Spain, Croatia, Thailand and Uzbekistan. He describes himself as having an “adventurer’s spirit”.

Few would disagree. An adventurer not only travels the world but also takes on challenges and goes into the unknown. Pulpis certainly fits these criteria. Not many coaches would leave the familiarity of home to travel to a country with a different language and culture with only 29 years of age and only a few years of coaching experience behind them. This is what he did when he took the role of head coach at MNK Orkan Zagreb in Croatia in 2003. This would only be the beginning of his foreign ventures.

By avoiding the easy route and embracing challenges you develop and learn. Describing what he has taken from these experiences Pulpis says “I think I have matured a lot. You have to adapt. You learn to be flexible. The most important thing is to be flexible. Each country has different cultures and different customs. You have to change how you work. You can’t work the same in Thailand as you work in Croatia or as you work in Spain.”

He identifies the different characteristics of the players from different countries: “In Thailand the players are very creative. If they win they are happy but if they lose there is no problem either. I think they miss that aspect of doing whatever is required to win. In Croatia the technical and physical level is very good but they must improve in the tactical aspect. Players from Uzbekistan are excellent technically. The Spanish player is good technically but maybe not at the level of the Brazilian. However they are very intelligent and excellent decision makers.”

He has had a lot of success in his career but it is not the on the court successes that he values most. Talking about his biggest achievement in his career so far he emphasises that “It is not the titles, even if they are important. It is the memories and the friendships. I have friends in all the countries I have worked in. Some I have lost contact with but I am in touch with lots.”

Many of the places he has worked did not have established and extensive histories in futsal. In these countries he has helped develop the sport and the players and he recognised that in Spain they did the same many years ago: “We brought in coaches and players from Brazil and learnt from them.”

However he warns developing nations that they must ensure that they get support from the right people. “It is important to bring foreign experience in but not just bring people for the sake of it. You need to bring people of a high level. They need to contribute. It is important to have players for people to see such as Falcao, Kike or Vinicius. You can watch them on videos but it is not the same. You need a model to imitate.”

He also highlights how futsal can be of benefit to developing football players in these countries as is the case in Spain and Brazil. “In Brazil they start playing futsal from 6 years of age. Futsal is great for developing football players. In futsal technically you need to have precision and you have little time and space to think which improves your decision making.” He added how the current Barcelona football team is adopting many of the principles from futsal.

Pulpis is now working with the Thai club Chonburi, where in August he will compete in the upcoming AFC Futsal Club Championship in Japan. Currently the team is in Kuwait for the Mini Club World Cup. Drawn in the group of death they go into the final game needing Alumnus from Croatia to lose against Santiago of Spain and, following this, they must beat Kazma from Kuwait, as well as record a superior goal difference than Alumnus.

Analysing their prospects of going to the knockout stages Pulpis notes “It is difficult when it doesn’t depend on yourself. Alumnus play Santiago, who are already qualified. We play Kazma who are already out but they don’t want to finish with no points. We will see what happens in the first game and then we will know if we can qualify or not.”

It is now 6 years since he worked in his home country. He left on a high note, winning the Cup Winners Cup with Santiago Futsal in 2007. He recognises the luxuries available for coaches working in Spain: “There you have the perfect conditions to work. You have the best league in the world and the best squads because there is more money. When you go abroad what you value first is what you had before.”

However, though he says he would like to return to Spain, he still has aspirations to work in other countries. “It is difficult in this moment in Spain. I would like to work in many countries such as Italy and Russia where the level is very competitive and also in countries where futsal is new such as Germany, France and England. I like to experience new cultures and new countries. It is not only about the coaching.”

With his adventurer’s spirit clearly still alive it can be expected that he will continue to travel the world to uncharted futsal territories as well as established ones promoting the game and sharing his knowledge. Wherever he is he knows there is one place where he can go to find about what is happening with the friends he has made along his travels in the futsal world: “Futsalplanet is a reference in the world of futsal. If you want to know something about what is going on in futsal then FutsalPlanet is the place to go.” And we look forward to continue to report on the intriguing quests of this renowned coach.








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