Sunday, August 03, 2008
Futsal 101
Some parents might not agree of having their kids to play futsal late at night. A basic rule of thumb, if you ask any football enthusiast is that futsal is contagious. The nature of futsal which is very simple to play – and the fact nowadays there are futsal centers built at about every corner of the city, makes us hard to resist the temptation of saying “yes, I’ll be there” upon answering a call from the night’s tokan (an organizer, the person in charge to call and gather players and the person who collects money at the end of the futsal session).

Being a tokan sounds like a very stringent and strenuous job to do – provided that you have to forgo your worthy mobile phone credit to make at least 9 calls or messages to get the ball rolling. But, it will be all worthwhile, because when there are surplus of money collected, in result of each of players have to pay equal amount of money – and the tokan will enjoy the extra money ‘incentive’. But being a considerable team player, we would not make a big fuss about it – for he had earned it. Now you can have a lesson on transparency and accountability by just playing futsal.

It would be a case of a competition, when there are more players than needed in the team. There would be a person or two, whom voluntarily or reluctantly have to make way for 5 players to play first. Every second on the bench is a misery, a torture, and silent agony, and an utmost woe to your dignity, when you are all set in your outfit; with a pair of shoe (we called it futsalor) made up chiefly of rubber resin with reinforced well-designed couture (if its an expensive newly-advertised Nike one, of course), but found sitting on the bench.

Don’t worry, there’s a way not to lose any of your well-groomed self-esteem.

I would pretend to check for my phone if it is ringing or walking back and forth to the counter as if I’m buying a Gatorade but forgot to bring my wallet. You have to look like you are not waiting to be in the court. That’s the trick.

It is all worth it when you step into the court and the ball is coming to you, allowing you to have short but enough time to show what you have, not just a cute little Nike shoe.

With smaller ball (but of the same size) than the traditional soccer ball, futsal lay down a clear emphasis on improvisation, creativity, technique and yes, like any sport, teamwork. I think it works well to make you more composed – hence you will be all fired up to want the ball more, so you can do something with it.

Dignity is very much an important deal to wage. Nutmeg, quick decision making, tricks and composure are all weapons of pride exploitation. Being able to do it is like winning a battle, and to be at the receiving end of it is devastating. I myself can get my whole day ruined just by having someone to do a nutmeg through my legs. But a signature rabona always thrive as a sweet payback for me. Ha ha, masuk bakul angkat sendiri. Shh.

Ah yes, tripping, jumping at, charging in dangerous manner, holding or pushing an opponent are not some of the way to show how muscular and manly you are, but a woe to you dignity as they reflect your short temper and lack of composure. We don’t need any shirt-pullers or any wrestlers around. Go home and watch WWE or any sick videos if you need your doze of brutality. Please, this is a game for gentlemen.

At the end of the day, friendship is strengthened, Malaysian football will benefit, and the love of football will be blossomed.

Although Cristiano Ronaldo and Ronaldinho are not my favorite players, they both credit the skills-based game with making them the players they are now. It is no coincidence that the countries who do extremely well in futsal like Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Spain and Portugal – also do well in full-size pitch football and feature as prominent figures in the FIFA world rankings. Chances are - with widespread futsal centers and highly sensitive passion among Malaysian youth on the game – we could be somewhere in between the top-list.

Futsal is definitely here to stay in Malaysian culture. It is better to have our kids indulging themselves in inflicting chaos on the road, faking their ID to get into nightclubs, getting drunk when you have class to attend the next day and involving in any black organizations.

Aksi-aksi yang pernah dirakam setahun dua dahulu.

Aku sudah gian. Tolong lah.

 
posted by Izham Ismail at 5:47 am | Permalink |


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