Australia's campaign in the Futsal World Cup kicked off this morning with a solid win against Mozambique, 3-2.  Fans hope a strong campaign will help bring the popular indoor sport out of the shadows.

By TAS MAVRIDIS

Many Australians have long overlooked futsal in Australia as a professional sport,  as it lingered in the shadow of its outdoor counterpart.

But as the Australian man's national team  – the Futsalroos – celebrate their win in the first match of the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Colombia, that narrative could be set to change.

The entire Australian squad are amateurs who take part for the love of the game and their desire to see the sport grow nationally.

In Australia, the vast array of other sports and the popularity of the outdoor format of soccer have left the quality of futsal in this country languishing behind the rest of the world.

However, according to Brazilian-born former Futsalroo player and current assistant coach, Fernando De Moraes, the sport in Australia has noticeably grown in the past few years as grassroots players look to the impact futsal has had on the outdoor game.

“In Brazil, futsal is in their blood and as a result they learn how to play with quick passes and quick movements,” De Moraes said.

For people like De Moraes, who was brought up playing the sport in his homeland, this helped to develop their skills at an accelerated rate compared to Australia, where many young players start off their journey into the sport via the outdoor format.

The growing number of kids playing futsal until at least the ages of 15 or 16 is helping to develop the next generation of footballers, he says.

“You can develop technical skills in futsal more easily as you are working in smaller spaces,” he said.

“You can notice the difference of those who have played futsal compared to those who haven’t.”

While many of the youngsters maintain aspirations to play the outdoor format at a higher level, De Moraes believes that the introduction of a professional league as seen across other countries could see futsal retaining talent who could eventually go on to play internationally.

“If we could have a league that pays money and allows for a more professional set up it will surely lead to more and more people choosing to pursue a futsal career over outdoor,” De Moraes said.

“The sport is amazing and my career highlights are all from playing futsal and representing Australia.”

Through his work at Futsal Oz in Brunswick, De Moraes hopes his love for the game and the enjoyment he got from playing futsal will help inspire a new generation of futsal players in this country.

Futsalroos make do with their limited resources

Australia, ranked 22 in the FIFA World Futsal Rankings, has found itself in an ominous pool in the opening group stage of the competition, which would be miraculous to escape.

Two top 10 teams in Brazil (#1) and Ukraine (#8) feature at the head of the quartet, as well as Mozambique (#52).

Australia started its campaign off with a solid victory against Mozambique, 3-2, and they hope it will establish some momentum for their match against top-ranked Brazil, the defending champions,  on Thursday.  

Their tricky qualification through the AFC Futsal Championships – where they finished fifth and thus secured the final World Cup qualifying spot – has helped improve the standard of the team as they attend each new tournament.

One of the main challenges facing the team is the structure of the training programs.

De Moraes went into detail about how members of the squad are flown into Sydney for short stints with the set up. Without the consistency of playing at a high level week-in, week-out like their overseas or outdoor counterparts, the emphasis and importance of the training camps continues to grow in significance as the World Cup approached.

With that in mind, there is one simple mantra the squad holds heading into World Cup action.

‘’We are going out there to win as many games as we can,” De Moraes said.

With the squad containing a large number of players who played in the 2012 World Cup, there are positive signs that within the Futsalroos set up, a greater number of players are experiencing multiple major championships and the team can develop a sense of cohesion.  

As an assistant coach, De Moraes is hoping to use both his experience, as well as the growing experience within the team to improve on previous attempts at the tournament - Australia has failed to progress past the group stage in their previous six attempts and only have three wins and a draw out of 18 matches at the World Cup level.

The chance to develop more popularity for the sport will start with giving Australian viewers the opportunity to watch the tournament on free-to-air television on SBS.

With more and more schools also adopting the sport as an option to its students and the continual growth of the sport, be sure to watch out for a futsal boom in Australia over the coming years.

The Australia v Brazil match will be broadcast on SBS at 8.50am on Thursday.

@tasmavridis97