PANJIM: The phenomenal Falcao known as the ‘Pele of Futsal’ for his exploits on the futsal pitch has predicted Goa 5’s to win the inaugural edition of Premier Futsal.
A strong mix of attacking and defending options, along with the support of a vociferous home crowd makes Goa 5’s the favourites to win the inaugural edition of Premier Futsal, said the two-times Futsal World Cup winner.
Though, the loss of Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho was a huge setback to the Goa team, the arrival of another legend in the form of Cafu, who put in a spirited performance in the last league game against Bangalore 5’s, has ensured the team goes into the semi-finals with spirits high, added Falcao.
With the dominating presence of Vampeta in defence and Benfica star Rafael adding flair to the attack, the Goa team poses a strong attacking threat and could cause trouble to teams in the knockout stages, said the Brazilian legend, who led the Chennai team as their marquee player in the tournament.
Asked for his predictions for the semi-finals, Falcao said he felt that Goa would get the better of Kochi, with Kolkata just about edging out Mumbai in the second semi-final.
So if the legend of futsal is right we could hope for a clash of two football crazy States playing a different ball game and battling it out on the futsal court to be crowned the first champion of Premier Futsal.
The world’s most famous futsal player Alessandro Rosa Vieira known as Falcão is partly credited for the huge growth of futsal in the world in the last decade. Currently, Falcão plays for Magnus Futsal, also known as Sorocaba Futsal, a Brazilian futsal team from the city of Sorocaba, which is located in the state of São Paulo.
Since the year 2000, awards are attributed to the best futsal players in the world. In 2004, 2006, 2011 and 2012, Falcão was named the World’s Best Futsal player.
Like many young Brazilian’s, Falcão grew up playing futsal, but unlike his fellow countrymen Neymar, Ronaldinho or Robinho, he didn’t move into football. Instead he stayed indoors on the futsal courts where his performances for Guapira in the regional championships as a teenager in Sao Paulo earned him a move to the futsal team of Corinthians.
After five years at Time do Povo, he moved to GM Chevrolet and a first call up to the Selecao, the Brazilian national team, soon followed. Two World Cups and four World Player of the Year has made Falcão a household name in Brazil and is often referred to at the ‘Pelé of futsal’, such is his standing in the game.
