The FA is finally embracing futsal, with the game growing on these shores and clubs implementing it into their academies
The passing was crisp and incisive, the movement restlessly
purposeful; the relentless pace of the game and ambitious dribbling on
show were yielding goalscoring opportunities continuously. It was, by
common consent, a feast of technical excellence, gladdening the heart of
anyone keen to witness controlled creativity on a pitch.
This was last weekend – but the venue was not the Olympic Stadium in
Kiev, where Andrés Iniesta and the tiki-taka brigade were pulversing
Andrea Pirlo’s Italy in the Euro 2012 final. It was 1,600 miles away in
the Birmingham Futsal Arena, where a bunch of 10-year-olds from East
Hull Saints were up against Whiteknights Toffees from Reading in the
national youth futsal finals.