|
- Beach Soccer:
Men's Team - The Brazilian team is currently the World Champion (2003), and the Champion of the League (2003).
- History:
Brazilians love beaches and soccer. By decades, playing soccer at the beach has been a favorite pastime of Brazilians from all States. When groups of close friends play
frequently, it's common that a "team" is created (usually by just a verbal agreement), to play against other teams. The really enthusiasts may even go to the point of
designing uniforms and formally constitute a team; this group, called V.T.F., was founded 1987 by a group which used to meet at the Copacabana beach.
In the early 1990s, some famous players who had just retired from field soccer (like Zico, ex-Flamengo, Junior, ex-Flamengo, and Edinho, ex-Fluminense) were playing
frequently on the beach, which attracted attention from audience and media. Actually, it is very common that field soccer players go to the beach, but Junior was a
kind of king of beaches (where he played just for fun), so his presence (and of those who accepted his invitations for friendly matches) draw more attention.
Because of its strong appeal, boosted by the presence of famous players, soon beach soccer found support to become a business. A group called Octagon Koch Tavares/IBSA,
especialized in organizing sports events, got in touch with the best structured teams to give the first steps towards an official tournament (by this time, the official
rules of beach soccer began to be defined). TV Globo, the most important Brazilian news network, saw in this sport a perfect filler for the Sunday mornings (much cheaper
than conventional soccer broadcasting, an enthusiastic audience easily targetable); audiences on Sunday mornings were guaranteed by Ayrton Senna victories, but after his
death in 1994 Globo had to find replacements (and beach soccer was one such).
In 1993, Brazilians were watching the first matches of beach soccer on TV; the rivalry between Brazilian States was much explored during this epoch, so matches like Rio vs.
São Paulo were common. Until today, there are frequent tournaments (or even just single matches) with participation of State teams.
In November 1993, a Brazilian team was formed to play a tournament in Miami, USA (won by Brazil). The sponsorship was by McDonals, another corporation which soon saw the
business potential of beach soccer; until today, all official tournaments in Brazil are sponsored by McDonalds.
In 1994, the first Mundialito (a non-official world tournament) was played in Rio; that same year, the Brazilian team also played in South American tournaments. In January
1995, the first Beach Soccer World Cup was played in Rio. By that time, a few other entities around the world had already captured the message from Rio, and several
countries had already made their national teams. World Cups became an annual event, and the popularity never stopped growing.
- Rules:
Official Rules (detailed description)
Basic rules:
Team: five players, one being the goalkeeper
Substitutes: from three to five players stay in bench, as substitutes; substitutions are unlimited
Uniforms: shorts and shirts; wearing any kind of hard footwear is forbidden; wearing socks or ankle protectors is OK
Referees: two (first referee prevails over second in case of discordance)
Duration: each match has three periods of twelve minutes each, with a three minute break between periods; if the score is tied, there is a three minute "golden goal"
overtime period; if the score is still tied after the overtime, there is an alternate penalty shoot-out, until one of the teams scores and the other misses a kick.
Fouls: in case of physical infraction, there is a free kick from the point of infringement, and the faulted player must take the free kick (unless he is injured, in
which case his substitute will take place). In case of hand fault, any player may take the free kick.
Cards: depending on how the seriousness of the infraction, the referees will show advertence cards to the infringent players. The cards follow this order: yellow, blue
(player is suspended during two minutes; the player isn't substituted, but he can return after the suspension is over) and red card (player is sent off and can't return;
after two minutes, he may be substituted).
Free kicks: if a team commits a foul at the defensive field, the other team has a free kick with no walls (no players can be posted between the ball and the goal);
if the foul is commited at the offensive field (of the team which commits the foul), then a wall is allowed (players can be positioned between the ball and the goal,
but must keep a minimum distance of 5.0 m).
Penalty kicks are shot from a distance of 9.0 m from the goal line
On kick-off, a goal cannot be scored directly, but only after the ball has been passed at least once.
Goalkeepers must re-enter the ball using his hands, within five seconds after having controlled the ball. Goals with hands are not valid; goals with feet are valid,
provided that the goalkeeper had received a pass from another player.
- Brazilian Team - summary of results: (Updated until March 2004)
Total goals scored - 1.621
Average of goals scored per match - 8,76
Total goals taken - 504
Average of goals taken per match - 2,72
Match with most goals scored - Brazil 20 X 1 Nigeria
Match with the highest number of goals - Brasil 14 X 9 Prince Albert
Team which played most times against Brazil - USA - 23 times
Matches in Brazil - 89
Matches outside Brazil - 96
Matches total - 185
Winnings - 177
Defeats - 8
Percentual of winnings - 96%
- Brazilian Team - All World Championships matches:
Brazil won nine of the ten World Championships which happened until 2004. Only in 2001, when Portugal was champion, didn't Brazil win (Brazil finished 4th). All championships
happened in Brazil, and all but one happened in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro. As described at the history section, there is a lot of commercial interest in the Brazilian beach
soccer, which favour its realization in Brazil (São Paulo, the other major city which could compete with Rio, doesn't have beaches).
Despite the clear dominance of Brazil, two other countries have an important place in the world of beach soccer: Portugal and Spain, one of these teams has been the runner
up for the last four championships. Uruguay and Argentina had a presence in the early tournaments, but have not been doing well lately.
Below, the list of all matches of the Brazilian team.
|
X Championship - Rio de Janeiro - 2004 |
First round: Brazil 10 x 2 Germany
Brazil 12 x 2 Switzerland
Brazil 7 x 2 Argentina
Brazil 7 x 2 Portugal
Final match: Brazil 6 x 4 Spain
|
|
IX Championship - Rio de Janeiro - 2003 |
First round: Brazil 6 x 3 Spain
Brazil 7 x 2 Italy
Brazil 13 x 1 USA
Brazil 7 x 2 Portugal
Final match: Brazil 8 x 2 Spain
|
|
VIII Championship - São Paulo - 2002 |
First round: Brazil 6 x 0 Thailand
Brazil 4 x 1 Spain
Brazil 7 x 3 France
Brazil 8 x 4 Uruguay
Final match: Brazil 6 x 5 Portugal
|
|
VII Championship - Bahia - Brazil - 2001 |
First round: Brazil 10 x 3 Germany
Brazil 11 x 0 Italy
Brazil 7 x 1 Peru
Brazil 5 x 6 Portugal
3rd place match: Brazil 2 x 4 Argentina
|
|
VI Championship - Rio de Janeiro - Brazil - 2000 |
First round: Brazil 10 x 4 Italy
Brazil 12 x 3 Germany
Brazil 6 x 3 Portugal
Brazil 8 x 4 Spain
Final match: Brazil 6 x 2 Peru
|
|
V Championship - Rio de Janeiro - Brazil - 1999 |
First round: Brazil 15 x 5 France
Brazil 10 x 5 Japan
Brazil 7 x 4 Canada
Brazil 5 x 2 Uruguay
Final match: Brazil 5 x 2 Portugal
|
|
IV Championship - Rio de Janeiro - Brazil - 1998 |
First round: Brazil 14 x 1 Italy
Brazil 9 x 2 Peru
Brazil 5 x 1 Argentina
Brazil 10 x 2 Spain
Brazil 5 x 1 Uruguay
Final match: Brazil 9 x 2 France
|
|
III Championship - Rio de Janeiro - Brazil - 1997 |
First round: Brazil 12 x 3 Japan
Brazil 10 x 2 Portugal
Brazil 5 x 3 USA
Brazil 14 x 3 Argentina
Final match: Brazil 5 x 2 Uruguay
|
|
II Championship - Rio de Janeiro - Brazil - 1996 |
First round: Brazil 12 x 4 Italy
Brazil 4 x 2 Uruguay
Brazil 7 x 1 Danmark
Brazil 13 x 2 Canada
Final match: Brazil 3 x 0 Uruguay
|
|
I Championship - Rio de Janeiro - Brazil - 1995 |
First round: Brazil 13 x 2 England
Brazil 8 x 2 Italy
Brazil 7 x 4 Uruguay
Brazil 16 x 2 Holland
Final match: Brazil 8 x 1 USA
|
- Brazilian players:
As described in the history page, much of the success of beach soccer is owed to the migration from famous players from the grass fields to the sand courts; in the
first world championship, in 1985, the best players, ellected by the fans, were Zico and Junior (Zico was also the main striker, with 12 goals, the same as also famous
Italian players Altobelli, who played with the Italian national team for several years).
A few other well known Brazilian players had participation in beach soccer, such as (to cite only those who participated in the FIFA World Cups) Branco (who scored the
third goal against Holland in 1994), Edinho (played in 1982 and 1986), Paulo Sergio (second goalkeeper in 1986) and Edmundo (France, 2000). Occasionally, mostly by
marketing reasons, players still active (like Edmundo and Marcelinho Carioca, playing in Japan in the 2003 season) are invited for single matches (usually in a Rio
x São Paulo or other inter-States challenge).
However, this is far from being the norm. The players mentioned above were not retired field players who decided to move to the beach. Instead, they had always been
beach players (all the Brazilians mentioned above had professional careers in Rio, and were frequent attenders of the Copacabana beaches) who happened to have success
in the field soccer, and returned to the beaches after retiring.
Playing on the sand is quite different from playing on the grass. The terrain is much more irregular, and is changed after every foot step; while on field soccer a good
attacker must run medium and long distances fast, on the sand the player must be capable of frequent quick rushes - which requires a completely distinct use of the muscles
and bodies; whereas in soccer the tactical planning and implementation often times decides a match, in the reduced dimensions of the sand court all players must be everywhere
all the time - not unusually, all players score a goal at the same match; physical fitness is, at least, as important in beach as in field soccer: matches of beach soccer,
despite of lasting shorter, are played under the sun (World Championships have been realized in February, the Brazilian summer, at the Copacabana beach, usually at around
40 degrees Celsius), on a more demanding terrain (besides being irregular, the sand certainly remains at a higher temperature than grass would); the arena of beach soccer
is much closer to the players than the stadium seats, which causes the influence of the fans to be stronger.
So, it is not a surprise that most professional beach players today had never been professionals of field soccer. This was the line-up of the Brazilian team which won
the World Championship in 2004: Robertinho, Júnior Negão, Benjamin, Jorginho and Buru; active substitutes: Camilo, Juninho, Bruno e Neném.
For comparison, this was the team which won in 2003: Robertinho, Junior Negão, Benjamin, Jorginho and Buru; substitutes: Neném, Juninho, Duda and André.
It's noticeable that the team has been very stable; most players are from Rio and meet each other since the years before professionalism; all players participate of every
match, and all are equally capable to score goals and win matches. Junior Negao is the oldest player of them (37 y.o. in 2004); in 2004, Nenem became the one with most
goals scored (202), followed by Junior (198) and Jorginho (195). Jorginho, a typical beach rat, is considered the most skillful.
Back to Sports
|
|