The Iranian national team's futsal prowess showed its strength once again. The day they defeated Thailand in their last Asian Championship match.
This is the talent that we have to give up no matter how well we carry out our duties… The question is, how can Iran be a futsal superpower when they started playing futsal after the Thai national team?
Find the answer to this question with Main Stand here.
Take it seriously from day one
The first Futsal World Championship was held in 1989, during which time FIFA or “FIFA” I saw the benefits in futsal. It has existed in a parallel universe to football for a long time. If there is official competition at the continental and global levels. Its popularity will increase. And make football benefit as well
Reasons why the football industry benefits from futsal Because of the roots of futsal it is from football. Futsal arises in situations where there are restrictions. Regardless of weather conditions, field conditions and number of players. Therefore, the field size was reduced and the game was played in an indoor gymnasium. European and South American countries have been playing futsal (street soccer or futsal) since before the 19th century.
Therefore, futsal is considered a launching pad for many football players. It is a stage where players can use the basics and practice techniques to the fullest. It is simply a foundation for dribbling, passing and shooting before moving on to add more skills to the tactical side. The day they grow up Players to become 11 football players playing on a large field.
Many current world-class players have passed through the futsal scene, including Ronaldinho, Andreas Iniesta, Ronaldo (R9), Neymar, Vinicius Jr., Kevin De Bruyne and many more. Futsal gives them better skills. And make the decision faster These things help a lot when they have to play 11-a-side football in a big stadium.
“The futsal field is a place where there are many things that make up a good footballer. I personally benefited from training in different skills, speed and decision-making ability. It helped me to be different when I grew up playing football on the big pitches.” . Iniesta, a player who has won every major title in the world, said:
When there is an opinion that football is the origin of futsal. Futsal is the origin of football. Both sports are interconnected in some way. The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has taken care of this matter and arranged a budget to encourage different countries to develop their own football teams.
After the 1989 Futsal World Cup, which was hosted by the Netherlands, there were 16 participating teams from 6 continents, and it was like a secondary project that did not compete in the qualifying rounds. But there was a select group of countries that had registered as FIFA members to compete. At that time, Brazil won the World Championship for the first time. There are many teams that currently rarely appear in futsal circles, such as Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Zimbabwe, Algeria, Australia, Canada or even the United States.
After the end of the World Championship in 1989, FIFA decided to increase its budget and provide support to countries wishing to become members. The goal was to compete in the 1992 World Series with a better team. There is more quality than before. This was the starting point that made Iran raise its hand to request membership. And they started running their own futsal circuit from that day on… as well as our Thai national team.
Seriously from day one
As mentioned earlier, football was international before futsal, so countries had strong football teams for a talented footballer it would be beneficial to start playing futsal.. Iran is one of them.
Iran is a country with a good football foundation from the beginning, which is better than many neighboring countries. Even cash-rich Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar cannot match Iran's success.
They participated in the first World Cup in 1978, which at that time made football in the country flourish to the max. Many talented players were born and influenced by that World Cup, such as Ali Daei, Iran's all-time top scorer. Are Iran better than anyone else in this field of football?
Going back more than 100 years, it is said that Iran was the first country in this region. Who knew football was imported by the British who came to extract oil in the era they were still called “Persia” By then football had become part of the curriculum in evangelical Christian schools. In the era of the British Empire, it dominated the region in the 19th and 20th centuries, having proven to be a good tool for interacting with Persian children and maintaining the health of the people there.
For this reason, Iran or Persia is considered the first country in this region. Who learned about the game of football before it became a popular pastime for the entire country, including the working class who learned about this sport through sailors. And British engineers on oil rigs
“Football has been imported by European officials in an attempt to turn people into 'obedient people'. Abdullah Al-Erian, a history professor at Georgetown University, said in the book Football in the Middle East that he wrote. So what does this have to do with futsal?
The simple answer is that just one year after Iran qualified for the World Cup finals in 1978, in 1979 Iran witnessed an Islamic revolution. And the war between Iran and Iraq, which made them not send a team to compete internationally for 8 full years from 1980-1988).
It can be said that it was a time when the country was calm and began to revive all kinds of sports. Futsal also benefits because Iran is a country that has its own professional football league. And many players who excel in the football league were changed to futsal players initially if the names of Iranian national futsal players are taken. For the 1992 Futsal World Championship, go to the search and you will find the history of each one of them. All of them were professional footballers before.
Iran developed futsal alongside football. And on a good basis it is a country with many footballers. Good Football Player Bringing football players to become futsal players with income and wages makes futsal a new sport that is rapidly gaining popularity in the country.
The 1992 Futsal World Cup, in which Iran participated for the first time. They reached the third round and lost to Spain 6-9, not a bad result for a team entering the competition for the first time.
The reason behind their success is that Iran has footballers with the right qualities to play Seoul football. This is a large number, but it is fast. To have good basic skills because it is a country that has been playing football seriously for many decades. There is a professional league to support. Most importantly, get a stimulating income. He creates good players who may not be good enough to be in the Iranian national team (soccer). We should switch to playing futsal and practice it more seriously.
While some people play football and futsal at the same time, such as Behzad Gholampour, a goalkeeper who was part of the Iranian national football team and futsal at the same time. There are also footballers who played abroad and switched to futsal at the beginning of their serious development, such as Arash Nomoz, who was in the senior Iranian national team. He went on to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer
When I went for the first time I got good results. Therefore, futsal is an option for many local football players to try to change their careers. Go and challenge yourself. In addition, the Iranian government is pressuring futsal with all its might. Because they wanted to make up for lost time during the war. This made the futsal industry in Iran begin to take shape from day one. Until the day they created a team of truly talented futsal players themselves through the professional league system they believed in. Good and comprehensive development of the entire system
Continue a deep, high-quality periodic regime.
Abbas Tarabian, President of the Iranian Futsal Federation in an interview, they said that after they went to the 1992 Futsal World Cup, the development trend woke up. They started their own futsal league immediately after the 1992 Futsal World Cup, before deciding to upgrade it to an official professional futsal league in 1998 to keep futsal and soccer clearly separate.
The reason is that when it is time for futsal there is more competition. Many countries woke up and began sending their teams to compete at the continental and global levels, and a new flag for futsal began to emerge. Therefore, they give futsal players that only playing futsal will be more beneficial than making football players play like they used to in the past. The Iranian futsal pyramid is very comprehensive. They have three levels of professional leagues, starting with the Premier League, Division 1 and Division 2.
Most importantly, they have a youth league. This league tries to find kids from all over the country to compete as city or county teams. It is the destination for these young futsal players. There is a professional league that supports this. As mentioned, Iran has begun to produce futsal players of increasing quality up to the present.
The example of comparison is very clear with the Thai Futsal League In 2016, Suvoot Thunklang used to play in the Iranian Futsal League with Messi Zanjan, and at that time it was revealed that he received a monthly salary of 300 thousand baht, not including bonuses The club also provides accommodation and a car Especially for use during the 4 months of Messanggan.
Reducing focus to Thailand at this time, it may be our professional futsal league and has been there for a long time. But compensation is still very far from the Iranian league, perhaps ten times more. If compared to the salary Sofawot was receiving at that time… Build first, thrive first, but expand first. It is the factor that makes Iranian futsal stronger than anyone else in Asia. It wouldn't be wrong to say that.
“We started the professional league in 1998 and we take the sport very seriously.” Turabian said.
“We realized that to get the best team we have to develop from the roots. In order to get real futsal players, we may sometimes compete and lose to good teams in the beginning. It's not a problem. We want our futsal players to play against the biggest powers in the world. Even “They know how to fight and how to play to win the futsal flag for these countries.”
“We were serious from the beginning. We now have three national teams and we have a very strong local professional league. We have the Premier League (the highest league) and we also have sub-divisions like Division 1 and Division 2. Having a professional league is very important for the base of the pyramid. We also have a youth league as a sending platform children into the vocational system.”
For this reason, Iran was able to move quickly. On the Asian level they have been a force since the day they were first established. From the 1999 Asian Championship to 2024, at present, they have participated in the Asian Championship 17 times, won the tournament 13 times, and have only performed below the quarter-finals once.
They are currently the sixth ranked team in the world, although they may not have won a world championship yet. Because at the global level, there are teams like Brazil, Spain, Argentina and many other countries that have played futsal since time immemorial, but Iran is close to being a team at this level. Since they sent a team to compete in the World Championship. They went further and further.
After finishing fourth at the 1989 Futsal World Cup, they were eliminated in the first round three consecutive times in 1996, 2000 and 2004 before the league system was settled. There is more futsal being traded abroad. Iran is beginning to move into the second round of the round of 16 and, more recently, the quarter-finals of the Futsal World Cup in Lithuania in 2021.
In 2024, they have their sights set on making the playoffs. With the intensity with which he played for the Thai national team in the Asian Championship, I am not sure with the intensity we saw with our own eyes that he is about to be showcased to the world at the 2024 Futsal World Cup.
Reference source
https://thinkcurve.co/thamaim-ihraan-cchuengepneb-r-1-aehngtawan-kklaangthiiesrsthiinammanchaati-uuenaechngaimaidsakthii/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_national_futsal_team
https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/futsal-iran-took-the-sport-very-serious-from-the-start-1.367065
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/465112/Iran-futsal-should-think-of-podium-expert
http://www.dougreedfutsal.com/2018/09/key-figures-in-asian-futsal.html
https://sextoanillo.com/index.php/2023/12/27/alireza-abbasi-this-year-the-level-of-iran-futsal-league-is-acceptable/
https://www.thaipbs.or.th/news/content/257057
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