Being back in Europa after six years Asia, I followed with full interest the UEFA end tournament in Slovenia. In view of their group stage games, it seemed that Russia and Spain had a hard time to reach the final four but they showed how to handle with pressure and quality during a tournament.
That Portugal would win all their games was neither expected but star player Ricardinho took his team to new heights. The title though, wasn’t stealt at all.
In Asia it’s a different story. Besides two exceptions in thirteen years time, Iran is the team to be beaten and it was the same story this year. In the quarter finals Thailand and Vietnam, two worldcup teams, were dropped out. Only Japan was left over and they offered resistance very well but finally Iran won 4-0.
Conclusion: in Europe the gap becomes smaller and smaller and countries like France are coming closer; only good for the Futsal. In Asia I think it will take some more years before Iran can be beaten. Beside Japan, it would be very good if the competition would be approached nation wide in more countries. Now it’s mostly one team that runs the show and delivers most of the national team players. The higher the competition level, the more development of the players, the more restitance you can give.
Photo: en.mehrnews.com