Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Pele — these are only some of the household names in football. Football’s brother game, futsal, has a few household names, too, and perhaps the biggest name there is in this sport is Alessandro Rosa Vieira or better known as Falcão.
Falcão is a retired Brazilian professional futsal player. He is known for his dynamic skills in dribbling and his dominant left foot. He received a number of achievements when he was still active. He carried the title of being the Best Player in the World four times and also received the Golden Shoe and Golden Ball awards in FIFA Futsal World Cups.
Career
Falcão started his futsal career when he joined the Guarapira futsal club in 1989 when he was 13. Four years later, he joined the Sports Club Corinthians Paulista and debuted in the senior team in 1994. By 1997, he joined the General Motors company team. He joined Clube Atletico Mineiro in 1999 and then moved to Rio Janeiro in the same year. A year later, he switched clubs multiple times until he finally joined Associação Desportiva Jaragua in 2003. It was during his stay in the said club when he got his first Best Player of the Year award that was in 2004. He also won the same award in 2006, 2011, and 2012. During his seven-year stay in Jaragua, he amazingly scored 317 goals in 230 matches and won 10 different titles including four South American Futsal Championships.
Despite his success in futsal, Falcão’s dream was to play football particularly for Santos, which he supported since he was young. Though he wasn’t able to make it to Santos because he failed the trial, he finally made his football debut for São Paulo Futebol Clube in 2005. It was a six-month contract under coach Émerson Leão which was made possible by his older brother, Pedro. His first appearance was in their opening game of the Campeonato Paulista against Ituano.
Leão was not convinced though with Falcão’s training. It seemed though that Falcão’s participation in the team was only for marketing purposes. His supporters were so excited for him for signing up with a prestigious club. Falcão did not make any significant changes during his football matches. The time he spent playing football was short but it appears that the futsal star does not look his best on the pitch.
In 2011, Falcão was able to play for Santos’ futsal team. Wearing the Santos’ shirt was at least comforting as he was able to be part of the club he has been supporting ever since though not in the big pitch. This did not last very long though as the Santos decided to disband their futsal team and their women’s football team to save and try to keep Neymar in the club. This did not faze Falcão as he continued to join several more clubs and dominated the futsal world.
Honours
As mentioned earlier, Falcão received the Best Player of the Year award four times (2004, 2006, 2011, 2012). In 2004, he also received the FIFA Futsal World Cup Golden Shoe. This honor is awarded to the top scorer during the tournament. He was also awarded the FIFA Futsal World Cup Golden Ball in 2004 and 2008. The Golden Ball award is given to the most outstanding player during the tournament.
The other awards he received were the FIFA Futsal World Cup Silver Shoe in 2008 and Bronze Shoe in 2016. Also in 2016, he was given the FIFA Award for an Outstanding Career.
Falcão Best Goals
Where is Falcão Now?
He ended his career almost 20-year futsal career with a record of more than 1,000 goals. We can certainly say that Falcão is the greatest futsal player to ever live. Today, he continues to inspire young athletes as he became a futsal ambassador. He was recently invited to be an ambassador for the Brazilian School Games (JEB) 2021. With Falcão’s exceptional skills and the journey he took to the top of his career, he indeed made a legacy and an inspiration for the future generation.
