After 10 days of entertaining and exciting Futsal, the Premier Futsal tournament has come to an end. Ryan Giggs’ Mumbai 5s came out on top of Kochi in the penalty shootout in the final after a thrilling 40 minutes that ended with the score 1-1. The tournament was a pure entertainer as we were lucky to witness legendary players like Ronaldinho and Paul Scholes who took the field along with the young Indian players.
Over the ten days, many players have stolen the show with some fantastic Futsal but there were a few who were consistently the best throughout the tournament. Here are the best players who have made it to our team of the tournament.
1) Goalkeeper: Luis Amado (Mumbai)
The 40-year-old goalkeeper was at the centre of Mumbai’s winning moments as he scored his penalty and saved his counterpart Casalone’s effort. Luis Amado came into the tournament after 134 games for the Spanish national Futsal team and a bag of experience from his 15 years at Inter Movistar.
During the tournament, Amado has been Mumbai number one choice keeper and has not let his team down. Despite conceding a goal in every game of the tournament, Amado has made many crucial saves, especially against Chennai 5s in the group stages. He is confident with the ball at his feet but is not very adventurous as his style of play is very conventional and composed.
His ball distribution has also been fantastic, especially the long passes toward the wings. His performances earn him a place in the team of the tournament as the number one choice goalkeeper.
2) Marquee Player: Michel Salgado (Kochi)
The ex-Galactico was chosen as the marquee player for the Kochi 5s franchisee. Dubbed as the least gifted of the six marquee players, many expected Kochi to be one of the weaker teams in the tournament but Salgado had other plans. His win-or-die attitude caught Kochi by its scruff and pulled them through to the finals.
Apart from being a champion leader on the pitch, the 40-year-old showed great fitness throughout the tournament and his defensive performances were crucial in taking Kochi through the group stages. Despite picking up multiple injuries, Salgado never gave up on the pitch and his attitude boosted the confidence of his men. He was always confident enough to take a shot from distance and his shots were almost always on target.
Despite missing his penalty in the final, he will be remembered by the fans as one of the best players of the first edition of the tournament and rightly so.
3) Defender: Chaguinha (Kochi)
Bruno Rocha Braga Cavalcante, better known as Chaguinha was the best player of the tournament and deservingly won the award. The Brazillian came into the tournament after a brief stint with Portuguese club Benfica’s 5-a-side football team.
Throughout the group stages, Chaguinha would stay back and feed Deives Moraes. His passing was impeccable and was at the centre of many of Kochi’s goals. When Kochi needed a goal, Chaguinha would join the attack scoring many vital goals, most notably the winning goal against Chennai 5s in the added time of the last game of the group stages.
In the semi-finals, he scored two to send Kochi through to the finals and was the architect of Moraes’ goal in the finals. Hence, he makes it to our team of the tournament.
4) Indian Player: Jonathan Piers (Bengaluru)
The Bengaluru F.C player was signed by Bengaluru 5s as a defender. However, he was one of Bengaluru’s best attacking players in the tournament. Bengaluru has a vert ordinary tournament scoring only four goals in as many games. It was, however, a great tournament personally for Jonathan Piers who scored three of Bengaluru’s four goals in the tournament.
He was also awarded the trophy for the Best Indian Player in the tournament. When asked about his experience in the tournament he said “I'm ecstatic. I came here as a defender and the coach told me why don't I play forward and it just clicked. I didn't expect it.”
Jonathan will be representing Bengaluru F.C in the I-League and is a player to watch out for in the future.
5) Pivot: Angellot (Mumbai)
The 25-year old has had a lot of experience in his very short career with stints in the Czech Republic, Bolivia, Spain, Italy, Venezuela, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Colombia. Although Ryan Giggs and Adriano Foglia stole the show in the first few games for Mumbai, Angellot was one of the most consistent performers for the men in blue and came to the fore in the knockout games.
His hat-trick in the semi-final put Mumbai into the finals where he scored a brilliant goal after pulling off a sombrero over a Kochi defender and slotting the ball in. He also converted his penalty to keep Mumbai in the competition.
With 9 goals to his name, he was the winner of the Golden boot award and hence makes his way into the team of the tournament.
Substitutes:
Goalkeeper: Casalone
The Kochi goalkeeper has been fantastic throughout the season. He was one of the most important players for Kochi when they decided to sit back and defend and was a very trustable player as he saved most of the shots on goal. In the finals, Mumbai had 25 attempts on his goal but Casalone let in only one goal.
Marquee Player: Ryan Giggs
Ryan Giggs settled into the shorter format with ease and was vital in leading Mumbai to the finals. His confidence on the ball was commendable and that rubbed onto the younger players. His quick feet and skill were evident as he pulled off a few impressive tricks to entertain his fans.
Winger: Pula
The Russian player was Kolkata’s best throughout the tournament and scored majority for their goals. He would stay back and defend when required and was comfortable attacking as he scored in almost all games during the group stages.
Indian Player: Chanpreet
The youngster caught the eyes of many around the country with his fantastic futsal. He was calm and composed and displayed loads of confidence and maturity beyond his age of experience and hence he makes it to our list. He also notched up a great goal in their last game of the group stages.
Winger: Raphael
The Japanese futsal player was Goa’s most important player throughout the tournament. He was the architect of most of Ronaldinho’s goal and after his departure, he took matters into his own hands scoring many vital goals. His pace was always troubling the opponents and hence makes his way as the final substitute player in our list.
