Courtesy: Give Me Sport


Video of Philippe Coutinho playing Futsal shows how he became so good

by Rob Swan

Futsal is big business in Brazil and many of the best footballers produced by the country over the past couple of decades grew up playing the game.

Ronaldinho and Neymar are two of the most famous recent examples of futsal prodigies who became global football superstars.

The variant of association football, which is played on a hard indoor court, requires players to use speed of thought and technique to beat opponents and find a way out of tight situations.

Players who spent time as youngsters playing futsal often boast impressive technical qualities, as well as the ability to problem solve during competitive matches.

Like Ronaldinho and Neymar, Philippe Coutinho also grew up playing futsal in Rio de Janeiro’s northern Rocha district.

Futsal had a huge impact on Coutinho's life

Coutinho followed his older brothers, Cristiano and Leandro, to the local concrete football pitch and the rest is history.

Watch Coutinho play for Liverpool and Brazil today and it’s easy to tell that he played futsal as a child.

He’s fantastic at weaving past opponents and quickly improvising when required.

Now 24, Coutinho has developed into one of the best attacking midfielders in the world.

The South American has scored 35 goals in 158 appearances for Liverpool since joining the Merseyside outfit from Inter Milan in January 2013 while his all-round game has improved significantly over the past couple of years.

And a video has emerged of Coutinho destroying opponents and scoring goals as a youngster on futsal courts in Brazil.

It’s well worth two minutes of your time and it’s safe to say Liverpool fans will love it.


Coutinho on futsal (from 2013)

"I played futsal from the age of six," Coutinho was quoted as saying by Sambafoot back in 2013. "Then when I was seven I went to Vasco da Gama, I was playing futsal until I was 11 before I moved to the pitch.

"This is where I learned my skills. When you play futsal it is more technical and much quicker.

"The place where you play is much smaller and the pace higher so you need to be a highly technical player to play futsal properly.

"That helped me a lot so wherever I go I try to adapt and learn quickly.

"It is a quicker game here as they always say, quicker than in Brazil or Italy. English football is much more intense. It was not so bad when I went to Italy but when I came over it was quite difficult for me to get going, to get into the rhythm of the game.

"Hopefully, further ahead, I'll be able to get to the same level of my teammates as regards the pace of the game."


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