On Thursday evening, national team director Pierluigi Tami watched the Swiss futsal team's European Championship qualifier against Spain. Is there more to it than that, or did he mingle with the 1650 spectators in the Weissenstein sports hall purely for fun?
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- On Thursday evening, the Swiss national team clearly lost to Spain in the European Championship qualifying opener. It is an unequal duel in many respects.
- Among others, national team director Pierluigi Tami, who certainly enjoys this sport, is on site.
- National team assistant coach Fabio Santona, himself a futsal international and first division footballer for many years, is delighted with Tami's visit and hopes that futsal will also become firmly established in the training of young footballers. He is firmly convinced that "futsal is the best tool for making footballers better".
- With YB, there is already a club from the Super League that has recognized the opportunities of futsal for young footballers.
The Swiss national team will face Spain, currently ranked number 4 in the world, at the start of the European Championship qualifiers. While Spain's players earn their living as professional futsal players, the Swiss (world number 119) are all amateurs. So it comes as no surprise that the result was clearly in the visitors' favor. Spain, multiple European and world champions, won 9:0 in the Weissenstein sports hall in Bern in front of a sensational (by Swiss standards) crowd of 1,650 fans.
There are some familiar faces on site. Long-time national team goalkeeper Gaëlle Thalmann is in the stands as a fan, Reto Gertschen, head of coach education at the SFA and interim coach of the women's national team for two games at the end of 2023, SFA President Dominique Blanc and national team director Pierluigi Tami are also there. blue Sport takes the opportunity to ask Tami why he is watching the game. Could futsal help to solve the problems in Swiss youth football? The answers can be found in the video above.
Futsal legend Santona on the collaboration with YB
Assistant coach Fabio Santona, for many years an important pillar of the Swiss national team and Swiss league leaders Futsal Minerva, takes the clear defeat in a sporting spirit. "The result is irrelevant for us. It's a dream come true for the players to be able to play against Spain. And they enjoyed it from A to Z despite the clear defeat."
Their aim was to do the simple things right and hold out for as long as possible. "We did that well for the first 10 to 15 minutes, when we actually overperformed and kept the score at zero. "After that, the first three goals came quickly and we knew there would probably be a few more to come."
They had at least achieved the minimum goal of preventing a double-digit defeat, said Santona with relief. You have to know that: A double-digit defeat in futsal against an opponent of this caliber would be more standard than surprising. They had prepared the team accordingly. "We told the players: take this game as a gift and give everything you can in front of this crowd. And then we'll see what comes out of it."
The away game against England is already on the program on Monday. The 37-year-old, who retired as an international player just over three years ago, is confident of a win against the world number 82. However, he will not be there himself, as "normal work" is calling. As an assistant coach for the national team, you don't make it onto the SFA payroll these days, and you don't get more than a daily allowance. That's another big difference to the Spaniards.
Futsal should make footballers better
Santona talks to blue Sport not only about the match against Spain, but also about the opportunities futsal offers for football. "Futsal is the best tool to make footballers better," says the long-serving international and first division footballer. YB, for example, has recognized this and has a partnership with Futsal Minerva, Switzerland's flagship club. Watch the full interview in the video below.
