The forward for Premier League team Manchester United and captain of Portugal’s national team, Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, credits futsal for the player he is today.
In an Instagram post, Ronaldo said that playing futsal started his football career. According to him, futsal taught him a lot of skills, including how to maneuver the ball, maintain close control, and communicate with other players.
Futsal in Real Valladolid
Because Ronaldo grew up playing futsal in Portugal which he believes is the solid foundation of his football skills, he wanted to use futsal in Real Valladolid.
Valladolid appears to stand to gain from this arrangement, and fortunately, those teams may simply join the local futsal league in Spain. Although it technically would be possible for Ronaldo’s club to take advantage of this rule, playing for a futsal team and a football squad at the same time is not permitted in Spain.
Nonetheless, it is possible that Ronaldo’s intention is to have the youngest ages enrolled as futsal teams only, and competing in two divisions would be too much for these teams and players.
Futsal as a Training Ground for Football
It’s worth noting that futsal is literally everywhere. As Ronaldo said, all that they ever played in Portugal was futsal.
There are many athletes who used to play futsal as kids, but for various reasons, the majority of them switched to football.
Given how much Ronaldo and other accomplished footballers value their futsal playing days, it demonstrates how vital it is for young football players to develop talents that can best be polished through futsal training.
