Thailand and Vietnam have snapped up the last two spots to join up with Iran, Japan and Uzbekistan to represent Asia in the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2021 in Lithuania. With the confirmation of the final 2 qualified countries, the stage for the highly anticipated 24 teams tournament is set to kick off in September 2021.
In the past 32 years of FIFA Futsal World Cup history, the tournament has been dominated by Brazil which lifted the prestigious Cup 5 times. Followed by Spain which lifted the trophy 2 times and in the last edition, Argentina was crowned the champions in Colombia.
No Asian team has come close in challenging for the World Cup title except Iran which came in third and fourth in 2016 and 1992 respectively. So does Asian team have the ability to challenge for the highest glory?
“Why not? To come in third in the last World Cup, Iran is definitely the best team in Asia. To me, they are a world class team! If they can repeat what they had done in the last World Cup, this could be their year, “ said Brazil’s FIFA Futsal World Cup winning Brazilian coach Marcos Sorato when he was asked by Junpiter Futbol on this thoughts on the Asian teams that are heading to the FIFA Futsal World Cup in Lithuania.
“Very similar to Iran, Japan is another great team which could be a huge surprise in this coming World Cup. They have a very good Spanish coach, Bruno Garcia Formoso who has been working with them for the longest time. And with the reinforcement of the neutralised Brazilian Arthur de Oliveira, Japan’s play is certainly enhanced massively. Well, depending on the group they are in, they do stand a good chance of progressing with such a squad.
For Uzbekistan, it is a team with a lot of discipline and not forgetting the current coach of Thailand’s, Pulpis who has left a great legacy there prior to his departure. And of course, the amazing work which Pulpis had put in during his Uzbekistan’s days is reflected in his current role in Thailand too. His teams are known to be disciplined and organised which are always lovely to watch.
As for Vietnam, they too worked with foreign coaches and obviously it worked out very well for their futsal eco-system. They have a very competitive league back home and I really think that they deserve to be in the World Cup,” added the former Al Nasr Futsal Club head coach, Marcos.
12-times Asian Cup champions Iran have never missed a FIFA Futsal World Cup except the inaugural edition in Netherlands 1989. However, they were not shy to announce their arrival in their first ever World Cup appearance in Hong Kong 1992 where they came in fourth behind Brazil, United States and Spain. Iran’s Saeid Rajabi even took home the Top Scorer Awards after scoring 17 goals in Hong Kong.
For Marcos who has led Brazil against Iran in several occasions, cited the Asian powerhouse as one of the best teams he has ever played against, “I won’t be surprised if Iran are going to be a world champions in the next few years. They already had a top scorer in the World Cup in 1992 when they just joined, they lost narrowly to Brazil 1-0 in that 2008 edition in Brazil, and in the last World Cup, they have beaten Brazil on penalty, it was a few great generation of athletes which Iran have groomed.”
For a futsal coach who has won FIFA Futsal World Cup twice with Brazil National Futsal Team and have previously worked in UAE & China futsal so extensively, he certainly knows what is required of Asian futsal to be among the best.
“For an Asian country to reach where it wanted to be among the best, apart from discipline, they need a lot of exposures outside the Asian continent. Once again, I have to use Iran as a good example. The Iranians have the support from their football federation which unfortunately not all football federations are that supportive. The team also constantly travelled and played several tournaments in Brazil over the years and that really helped them improved tremendously.”
Lastly, in a World Cup winning coach’s opinion, which team will most likely be lifting the World Cup in Lithuania?
“Well, Brazil will always be one of the favourites but defending champions Argentina are closing in fast, so as a couple more other countries,” commented Marcos.
He added, “There have been a change in the competition format since 2012 where it became a knockout stages from second round onwards, so there will always be room for plenty of surprises, for example Egypt eliminated Italy in 2016 and Colombia sent Iran packing in 2012. Afterall, futsal is a very dynamic game with a lot of small details. And one small detail is capable of changing a game.”
Marcos Sorato was a former futsal player who played as a pivot during his playing days. He spent most of his career in Spain where he won the Spanish Futsal League 3 times, voted the Best Pivot of the League twice and was once the Top Scorer of the League. After retiring in 2003, he began his coaching career in Brazil, Spain, Italy, Russia, UAE & China. Biggest highlight of his coaching career will be the winning of the FIFA Futsal World Cup twice with Brazil in 2008 and 2012.
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