Chennai to face Mumbai in Premier Futsal opener today

In the inaugural edition of Premier Futsal, a five-a-side indoor football, Falcao’s Chennai will square off against Ryan Giggs’ Mumbai in the first match while Kolkata’s Hernan Crespo will be against Goa’s Ronaldinho in the second match. 

Each match will be played in four quarters of 10 minutes each. After the end of each quarter, there would be a two-minute time-out. The Virat Kohli promoted league will also see Paul Scholes, Michel Salgado play for the Bengaluru and Kochi franchises respectively. Unlike in Futsal’s richer cousin, the game will not have any off-sides. 

Unlimited substitutions, on a rolling basis, can be done. Sliding tackles or a shoulder barge is not allowed keeping it a contact-free sport. While five fouls are allowed per team without a penalty, the sixth foul onwards would attract a nine-metre penalty for the team committing a foul. A warning, an orange card, will be shown to a player who commits a foul. 

Two orange cards will qualify for a blue card and a player getting a blue card will be expelled from the game. With big names like Ney Pereira on the touchline and Falcao, a four-time World player of the year award winner, Chennai would hope to do justice to the tag of the sport - a high intensity sport. Falcao’s rainbow kick would be a shot that fans and players would want to watch with bated breath. Mumbai would hope to bank on the services of their pivot (forward) Adriano Fogila who played for both Brazil and Italy scoring 63 times for Italy. A multiple league championship winner, Fogila would be vital in Mumbai’s attack.

When the big names of world football descended on Chennai, fans weren’t left behind. While scores of fans made their way to the airport to catch a glimpse of Ronaldinho, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs et all on Wednesday night, some of them made their way to a star hotel in the city where the marquee players were addressing the media.

Abhinav Nair, a statistics student of Loyola College and a United fan was waiting with bated breath to meet Giggs and Scholes. “I am a football player myself. I played in the district level and these players were the first legends when I grew up. Hence the connect I have with football and the players is unmatchable,” Abhinav added. Abhinav was unlucky to miss out on welcoming his hero at the airport. “An event was created on social media but I missed out owing to a miscommunication. I think it as a terrible loss. He was continents away and when he was kilometres away, I missed a chance to see him up close. It was frustrating,” he added. 

For Shahsank Ramesh, a student of Arizona State University, it was a second chance to meet Scholes. “I am a United fan. I lived in Manchester for two years and I had the experience of watching Scholes live. This is a second opportunity and I am here to grab it with both hands,” an elated Shashank added. Athreya Ramkumar is a Brazil patriot only for Ronaldinho. “I started watching football from 2005. That was when Ronaldinho was at his peak. I adore his style of playing. He brings futsal into football. He loves the fans more than any other player, which is a trait that makes him stand above the rest,” Athreya added.