While the stereotype holds that Brazilians hone their soccer skills on the beach, the truth is that most Brazilian soccer players hone their skills indoors. Futsal, which is short for ‘futebol de salão’ (‘indoor soccer’), is believed to have originated in Brazil in the 1930s (some Uruguayans might dispute this, there are some suggestions that this version of soccer originated a little south of Brazil).
The recently deceased Pelé was born in the landlocked state of Minas Gerais and his hometown of Tres Coracões is about as far from the beach as you can get in Brazil. He honed his skills playing futsal, as did Rivelino, Zico, Ronaldo and Romario later.
Indoor courts were a convenient way to play for Brazilians due to the difficulty in finding suitable grass patches outdoors. The popular expressions of Brazilian soccer point to some of these emerging difficulties. The dribble popularized by Stanley Matthews, in which you push the ball around a defender and run to the other side, is known as a “cow dribble” in Portuguese, literally “cow dribble.”
It emanates from a time when people played on farmland and the prospect of having to haggle around a stray bovine was commonplace. When the ball hits the top corner of the crossbar, the Portuguese expression is “onde a coruja dorme” or “where the owl sleeps”.
A particularly floating style of shooting is known as “folha seca” or “dry leaf”. These phrases, coined in the earliest iterations of soccer in the country, are steeped in language and the dangers of nature that surrounded them. Futsal was a good way to find a more suitable space to play.
In futsal, the ball is usually heavier and smaller and the surface on which it is played is hard. The court is also small, which limits the amount of time and space players have to operate. It is here that many legendary Brazilian players have created their close control.
This was largely the case with Gabriel Martinelli. Earlier this year, he told Soccer Bible: “I didn’t play much in the streets, as you hear from some players, because for me there was a futsal academy right next to my house. My dad used to take me there to play soccer.”
Martinelli’s debt to futsal is immediately apparent to anyone familiar with the sport. Martinelli signed up to play for the Corinthians futsal team as a teenager, he didn’t really start playing soccer seriously until his family moved to Guarulhos due to his father’s job and he left the Corinthians futsal team to play in Ituano.
In the interview with Soccer Bible, Martinelli continued: “It was very important and it has helped me a lot with my control and things like that. Even today on the pitch I still control the ball in the same way that I did on the Futsal pitch. Sometimes you can also see it on other players. You may see how someone controls the ball and think ‘he has also played futsal’.
The way Martinelli controls the ball, for example, comes from his futsal upbringing. The way he catches the ball for a split second, inviting a challenge, before shoving it away from his full-back at the speed of light. In futsal, there is little time for elaboration and Martinelli’s style is neither elaborate nor soft on the eye.
When Martinelli decides to haggle, it’s over – YouTube
Another common trait of futsal is the quick but delicate shift from one foot to the other. Take his recent goal against West Ham for an example. It’s hard to describe in words, but sometimes when you see a goal live inside a stadium, it takes you by surprise.
We subconsciously get so caught up in certain rhythms and beats when we see attacks unfold and occasionally someone does something in a way that disturbs that 4/4 rhythm. This is how I would explain Martinelli’s goals against West Ham and Brighton.
Arsenal are SEVEN points clear at the top! | Arsenal 3-1 West Ham | Premier League Highlights – YouTube
Both times, the goalkeeper has taken the brunt of the blame for seemingly allowing tame shots to go through. But witnessing both in the stadium, there was a sense of surprise, even shock, at the execution. Martinelli often hits the ball half a second sooner than you’d expect, his passing seems to be scored and that comes from playing in the time-pressed environment of futsal where every quarter of a second counts.
A common feature of futsal goals is to shift the ball from one foot to the other before striking the back of the ball firmly and along the ground. Martinelli’s goal against West Ham and his assist for Nketiah against Brighton are good examples of this. Because the futsal ball is heavier, players often have to hit the back of the ball firmly and the small goals mean spikes along the ground are a must.
PL Extended Highlights: Albion 2 Arsenal 4 – YouTube
The toe touch in Brighton was absolutely reminiscent of Romario, one of futsal’s most famous beneficiaries. Again, the weight of the ball and the need to keep it on the ground make the toe strike a favored flourish in futsal.
Romario ● The most clinical striker in history ||HD|| ►Impossible Goals◄ – YouTube
Martinelli’s goal in Brighton was so reminiscent of a futsal goal that it might as well have happened on a hard court. Martinelli rarely elaborates or embellishes the ball. His objective every time he receives the ball is to get it as close as possible to the goal by any means necessary.
Again, that’s likely due to the futsal environment that values instinct, necessity and economy. That’s why the player doesn’t have many of the bows and whistles stereotypically assigned to Brazilian soccer players. His is a much more ruthless style attacker with little time for aesthetics.
It’s also very difficult for defenders to handle given the explosiveness that futsal promotes, the way futsal players have to develop incredibly keen wits on the ball, tempting opponents into silly plays and seducing opponents. goalkeepers with a ‘detuned’ (out of tune) tempo and finishes designed for a smaller and heavier orb than standard Premier League football.
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