Courtesy: FIFA.com


Tiago, Brazil's contagious champion

14 Sep 2016

You wouldn't have been surprised if there was still been a sting residing on the palms of Brazil's goalkeeping supremo Tiago after their opening FIFA Futsal World Cup Colombia 2016 encounter.

His night's work against Ukraine was relentless, as 66 shots were aimed his way, 20 of which he beat away from goal to safety, in his high-flying and crowd-pleasing style. All in a day's work for the modest two-time Futsal World Cup winner.

But today’s realities can so often hinge on a fragile, serendipitous blip in history, and the story of how Brazil ended up with arguably one of futsal’s greatest shot-stoppers is no different. “I became a goalkeeper by chance when I was 8 years old,” he explained to FIFA.com.

“The goalkeeper in our team had chickenpox and wasn't available to play. The big problem was that it really worked! I continued to play as a goalkeeper just for fun, but even then when I played football it’d still be as a striker.”

That bout of chickenpox his young team mate went down with has a lot to answer for. Two FIFA Futsal World Cup titles and a 2008 adidas Golden Glove to name just the tip of the iceberg. But incredibly, for the Brazilian No2 – who has retained his number, “which I don't change for anything”, since his first national call-up – it only took two years of focus to go pro.

“It wasn’t until I turned 16 that I decided to dedicate my life fully to being a futsal goalkeeper,” looking back on that wise choice just shy of two decades ago. “But futsal only really became my profession when I was about 18 years old. Before then it was still just for the fun of it.”

A winning disease
Now an experienced 35-year-old stood at the base of the Brazilian side, his coach Sergio simply underlines importance: “He gives us security.” But he gives more than that too. As Tiago searches for his third world title in a land so famous for its coffee, he all too often resembles a vocal shot of caffeine, keeping his outfield team-mates in tune and alert.

“My enthusiasm is inexhaustible, because I don't like to lose,” he admitted. “My mission is to try to infect the other players with that same drive every time we play, even more so during the difficult moments in a game.”

That will to win on the field naturally translates into a hypercritical approach to growing his own game as well. The kind that is crucial to keeping you at the very pinnacle of any discipline for as long as the likes of Tiago has been. “That same drive means I always want to get better,” he explained. “So the search for perfection is one of my goals, even though I know that it will never happen.”

But, despite coming from a country where goalkeepers have never been the jewel in the crown, and playing in a team with magnetic attacking personalities like Falcao, Tiago has no hang-ups about not getting the accolades his quality may deserve. “Recognition is not an achievement regularly garnered by Brazilian goalkeepers,” he admitted. “The appreciation of our job comes just from the people involved in our position: families, friends, other goalkeepers and our coaches.”

Even with this, and his heaving trophy cabinet, Tiago philosophically signed off signalling his thirst for medals shows no sign of being quenched. “The past is already gone and the future doesn’t exist, but my aim is always to win the next championship.”



Courtesy: FIFA.com


World Cup dream on hold for Egypt's Abdelnaser

14 Sep 2016

After starting their FIFA Futsal World Cup Colombia 2016 campaign with a win over Cuba, Egypt would have all but guaranteed themselves a place in the last 16 had they beaten Russia in their second outing in Medellin on Tuesday. This was an objective their keeper, Gamal Abdelnaser, believed was firmly in their reach when they took to the court.

Full of hope, the 23-year-old custodian formed a heart shape with his hands before his country’s national anthem played, though it was not long before his dreams of victory began to vanish. Within 12 short seconds he was picking the ball out of the net, and was doing so again with just 62 seconds on the clock. “We were unlucky,” the visibly downcast Abdelnaser told FIFA.com afterwards. “Nothing came off for us today. Our ball control wasn’t good enough and we gave the ball away too. And there’s no getting away from the fact either that Russia played a great game.”

The only positive thing about Russia’s opening two strikes was that they came early in the game. Yet even though Abdelnaser felt there was no way back into the game for Egypt after such a slow start, there was no question of the Pharaohs throwing the towel in, as he explained: “At half-time the coach told us to forget the first 20 minutes and start from scratch again.” Unfortunately for the Egyptians, who were four down by that stage, their opponents took a similar approach, and stretched their lead with their first shot on goal after the restart.

Adding to Abdelnaser’s sense of disappointment was the fact that he had wanted nothing more than to dedicate a win to his brother, three sisters, parents and fiancée, all of whom are following the tournament closely back home.

Comforting words
The youngest member of the family, Abdelnaser will no doubt need some words of consolation from them following his side's 6-1 defeat. Asked what he plans to say to his girlfriend the next time they speak, he said, not without a quiver of emotion in his voice: “I love you.”

Having seen six goals go past him in all, Abdelnaser had good reason to feel dejected, though he played a big hand in keeping the score down, pulling off some fine saves to prevent the Russians from recording an even more handsome win. “I tried to talk to my team-mates the whole time and tell them what to do, but absolutely nothing worked out for us,” he said with an air of resignation.

It was little wonder, then, that the player’s only desire after the game was to go back to the hotel and pick up the phone. Already seated on the bus, his team-mates were no less eager to exit the Coliseo Ivan de Bedout and put the defeat behind them. On the journey back, Abdelnaser would perhaps have a moment to reflect on his coach’s half-time pep talk and to take those words with him into Egypt’s final group match, against Thailand.

Though it is back to square one for the Pharaohs, victory over the Asian side will soon see them smiling again.


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