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PRESS RELEASE – 17.05.06 |
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| Pele Speaks of Benefits of Futebol de Salão |
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Arguably the World’s greatest ever player, Pelé, has spoken in favour of futebol de salão and the benefits of playing it as a youngster in his new autobiography. Pelé, real name Edson Arantes do Nascimento, began playing futebol de salão in his teens whilst in Bauru for a local team and instantly recognised the improvements in his own game :
“In my mid-teens I also played indoor football, which had just taken off in Bauru, for a team called Radium, and took part in the first futebol de salão championship to be held in Bauru. We won”, said Pelé.
“Futebol de salão was a new thing and I took to it like a fish to water. It’s a lot quicker than football on grass. You have to think really quickly because everyone is close to each other. Learning the game probably helped me think on my feet better.
“It was through futebol de salão that I first got my chance to play with adults. I was about fourteen, and I can remember that there was a tournament for which I was told I was too young to take part. In the end, I was allowed to play. I ended up top scorer, with fourteen or fifteen goals. That gave me a lot of confidence. I knew then not to be afraid of whatever might come.”
Pelé went on to have an illustrious career, most notably with Brazilian club Santos, scoring 1,283 goals in 1,367 club games as well making 92 appearances for Brazil, scoring 77 times.
The endorsements from Pelé come on the back of other such adverts for the game in recent weeks, including the latest Nike commercial showing a young Ronaldinho playing futebol de salão.
Kunal Sareen commented, “When the best player the world has ever seen, Pelé, says that futebol de salão helped his game, you have to take note. The fact that the game is played on a smaller pitch gives each player less thinking time on the ball which when transferred to a full-size pitch means they react quicker.” |
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| FUTEBOL DE SALÃO |
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| Futebol de Salão is a exciting and fast moving 5-a-side game of South American origin, played on a hard basketball court-sized pitch using a small (size 2), weighted and specially manufactured ball. The game is cited by Brazilian legends such as Pele, Rivelino, Zico, Careca, Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Juninho amongst others, as being the game that made them the great players they are. |
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