Alessandro Rosa Vieira, or Falcao, is one of futsal's biggest names. Earlier this week, the Brazilian became the first marquee player to sign with Premier Futsal, the first season of which is scheduled to begin in July.
Falcao was introduced to the gathering as 'the Pele of futsal' and he did not mind it. "It means a lot to me," he said here on Thursday. "I'm here to show people what futsal is all about."
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"I will be helping the league in bringing a handful of well-known futsal players across the world," he said. "We want to help the Indian players learn from the international players. Having at least one Indian on the pitch throughout the game will help. I also want to help take the game to kids in schools and academies so that at least seven years down the line India may have a great futsal player."
Futsal would help aspiring football players develop their ball-playing skills, Falcao felt. "Spain is a great example. Spanish football’s landscape changed and it started to grow once they changed the way the team trained and adopted the futsal style. This is not just the national team, but right from the kids. In Brazil, players like Neymar, Kaka, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Zico started with futsal when they were kids," he said.
Falcao has won two FIFA Futsal World Cups with Brazil, and has claimed futsal's equivalent of the Ballon D'Or four times. The 38-year-old explained why the sport would always be a hit with children. "In futsal, you are more involved in the game," he said. "There are only five players; so everyone attacks and defends. So you spend more time on the ball, take more shots and score a number of goals. So the kid is happy and he wants to play again and that’s how the cycle begins. But football is a much slower sport. A kid may be bored if he does not get enough time on the ball. I'm sure the kids of India will like futsal."
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