Local exercise physiologist Alexandre Argolo has been appointed the Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Australian National Under 20’s Futsal Team.

They are competing in the Associacion Mundial de Futbol de Salon C-20 World Cup being held in Balaguer, Spain from the 17th to the 24th of November.

Alexandre always feels the pressure of preparation before a league of this magnitude, but on paper, he sees big benefits for the players, “We're going to have more young players - more exciting players.”

This World Cup is played in Catalonia, Spain, and players from that region will be representing. Not the Spanish National team. Alexandre speaks of the geopolitics involved, “They don't want to represent this tournament as Spanish nationals. They want to represent players from the region of Catalonia.

“Real Madrid and Barcelona are big rivals in Spain. Barcelona represents Catalonia, and Real Madrid represents Spain.” Barcelona will be playing, and Real Madrid will not.

Futsal is very popular but still in its infancy in Australia, as there are no professional teams (full-time paid players). Competitions like this for young players are vital for exposure and opportunity. The league gives publicity and exposure to the players. Trials give Australians a chance to play professionally overseas.

Alexandre is passionate about raising the profile of Futsal in Australia, and each competition Australia attends is a step in the professional direction.

“This tournament is very important for us, in terms of opening up a door for our players to have a chance to go overseas and compete in an International World Cup, and after, to have trials overseas to play professionally in Europe."

On this tour, Alexandre and the team will have the chance to “Work with one of the best football coaches in Europe. He is going to help us to develop this group to compete against the big nations like Brazil, Uruguay, and Switzerland, but also to organise our future plans in terms of the trials."

Australia has been drawn in Group B along with Paraguay, Italy and Monaco.

“It's a hard one, yeah. The reasons why are because those nations have been preparing themselves for the last two or three months. They are getting together and training consistently. We don't get the chance to do that because Australia is a very big country, and we have players from Brisbane, Sydney, Perth and Melbourne.”

(Alexandre doing strength training with the Australian Team that went to Men's Open World Cup in Columbia. Image credit: Alexandre Argolo)

Two up-and-coming young men from Lismore, Clay Skinner and Hunter Hotko, played in the open Men's Futsal World Cup in Columbia recently. To back up for another World Cup is expensive, so even though their age bracket is right, they won't be playing this World Cup.

"Australia definitely made an impression in Columbia. We made it through the draws to be in the final 16 knockout teams. And they only went down to Brazil by a point (one goal)."

Brazilian team members were impressed with the Australian talent on display.

“It was quite exciting for our players. Of course, we didn't reach the finals, but we played against Brazil (2-1) and Colombia (7-0). We have that taste, and the players never felt that taste before.”

In the final, it was down to Columbia vs Brazil, and Columbia won (2-1).

The two young men, Hunter and Clay, both did very well in Columbia.

“Hunter did amazingly well. I had a chance to talk to people about Hunter's future in Futsal. You can see a light at the end of the tunnel because even from very experienced coaches, they saw the promise in him.

“Clay, had come back from a massive injury in his back, and also he had a very big injury in his ankle before the first game. In a training session, he twisted his foot. But even with that, he was able to play. He did well, but because of the injury, he couldn't reach the level he expected.”

(Clay signing a fans shirt and Hunter on the court playing against Brazil. Image Credit: Alexandre Argolo)

The tournament in Catalonia means a lot to the players and the future of the sport in Australia. For Alexandre, “It’s the end of one big cycle. Four years ago, with the Football World Cup I met Vinny, and I got the contacts to go to this federation. Since then, I have had so many trips for the sport. Twelve countries, I think.  

“Hopefully, next year, we're going to be a bit more professional. There will be more opportunities to prepare players, not just for international competition, but also so players can go and play for professional clubs in Europe. 

“That's one of my goals."

Alexandre's passion for the sport and the future of it in Australia are guiding life decisions.

“I know I'm in Lismore, but I don't want to go to Sydney or Brisbane, where there is more business. I want to continue doing my job here in Lismore because I believe there is a lot of talent around here.

“Who knows if Lismore could be a place where we can organise a World Cup in the future?”

For that, we only need one court with a grandstand that could hold 5000! And a lot of accommodation…