Does Futsal Improve Soccer Skills? | How to Play Like a Brazilian Soccer Player

Does futsal improve soccer skills? Have you ever asked yourself why Brazilian players tend to be noticeably more skillful than players from other countries?

The short answer is yes absolutely. For the long answer we can look into Brazil's soccer history.

Before 1958 Brazil was an average team and had not yet achieved success at the international level. From 1958 to 2002, however, Brazil managed to win 5/11 World Cups, more than any other country in the history of the tournament. How could this be?

Well to understand why, we have to look into what was happening in Brazil leading up to 1958.

And this bring us to to Futsal’s early roots. Futsal was invented in 1930 as a rainy-day training option by a Uruguayan coach. Brazilians quickly began playing futsal and made the first rules in 1936. Since then futsal spread all around brazil and it quickly came to occupy a unique place in Brazilian sporting culture.Other nations played futsal, but Brazil became obsessed with it. One reason that futsal became so popular in Brazil is because well kept grass fields are difficult to find in Brazil because of the climate, whereas futsal can be played anywhere.

From Pele onward virtually every great Brazilian player played futsal as a kid, first in the neighborhood they grew up in and later in Brazil's soccer academies, where from ages seven to around twelve they typically devoted three days a week to futsal.

A top Brazilian player spends thousands of hours at the game. For example, the great Juninho said he never kicked a full-size ball on grass until he was fourteen. Also, until he was twelve, Robinho spent half his training time playing futsal.*

That elastico move that Ronaldinho popularized, originated in futsal. The toe-poke goal that Ronaldo scored in the 2002 World Cup? Also, futsal.

So, You may now be asking, what’s the secret, why does futsal create such talented players?
One reason lies in the math. Futsal players touch the ball far more often than soccer players. According to a Liverpool University study, futsal players touch the ball six times more often per minute than full size field players. This gives futsal players many more opportunities to practice and experiment with different skill moves.

Also, the smaller, heavier ball used in futsal demands and rewards precise handling of the ball. Sharp passing is also necessary because of the close quarter environment. Futsal is all about looking for angles and spaces and working quick combinations with other players. Basically, in futsal ball control and vision are crucial, so when futsal players play the full-size game, they feel as if they have acres of free space in which can play.

The key takeaways from this information is that you should begin to practice in close quarter environments so that you can accelerate the learning process and become a more skillful player. I recommend that you get a group of friends or some of your teammates and start playing in either an indoor gym, a basketball court, an outdoor futsal space, a ground hockey court, or any close quarter gym. And if you have the opportunity to do so, join a futsal team! Brazilian players aren’t born skillful, they simply spend countless hours playing futsal. If you want to gain a similar level of skill, you too should begin playing futsal or practicing in close quarter situations.

This information was presented in the book The Talent Code by Sian Doyle. I recommend you check it out if you want to learn more about how to learn skills faster.

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