Ronaldinho delighted to play in Premier Futsal

Ronaldinho is in the city as the marquee player and captain of Goa 5's in the Premier Futsal tournament, which would kick off later this evening. Other legends present were Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, besides Michel Salgada of Real Madrid. 

Michel Salgado was surprised at the support his fellow players got and said 'I can see the support for Manchester United here and I hope to see some support for Real Madrid too''.

During the press conference, all the marquee players expressed satisfaction on being part of the inaugural edition and were looking forward to being a driving force for the sport in the country.

Ronaldinho said he was feeling good to be back in India amongst a passionate and kind audience. ''It will be unique experience to be playing against the best futsallers and my friends who I have played against in the past. I am delighted to back in a playing capacity this time and I would like to thank Premier Futsal for bringing back my memories from childhood of playing Futsal back home,'' Ronaldinho said.

Chennai 5s captain Falcao, who replaced Portuguese Deco at the last minute following an injury, said, 'especially for the five kids who are a part of each team - this could be a phenomenal learning experience. A lot of them would be playing alongside their sporting heroes and that should in itself be enough motivation to perform to the best of their abilities and learn something from this Premier Futsal experience.'' Mumbai 5s captain Ryan Giggs said Premier Futsal will be a different experience for him.

''I would love to see how I fare amongst the best in the business of Futsal. Several countries across the world are now embracing Futsal at the academy level to improve the game of kids at a very young age. I am delighted that entrepreneurs in India could think of this concept of Premier Futsal and manage to put together all these Futsal players and of course, all these legends who I have grow up playing with,' Giggs added.

Paul Scholes, marquee player and captain of Bengaluru 5s, said he was surprised at the number of people who turned up at the airport to welcome the captains of the six teams.

'I was totally surprised at the number of people who turned up at the airport to welcome us. I was told there are a lot of Manchester United fans here, but I was pleasantly surprised to know that it was beyond my expectations,'' he said.

Argentine forward Hernan Crespo, marquee player of Kolkata 5s, said, 'I was delighted to see the preparedness with which they went about planning Premier Futsal and as a businessman myself, their conviction led me to believe this is could be a start of something really special in India.