In futsal, you see whether a player is really talented. You notice the small details in quality, class and tactical understanding.
Interpretation
Futsal reveals a player's true skills and understanding of the game.
This quote by Xavi emphasizes the unique attributes that futsal can highlight in a player's abilities. Unlike traditional football, the smaller playing field and faster pace of futsal require players to exhibit a higher level of technical skill, tactical awareness, and nuanced understanding of the game, thus laying bare the talents that might be overlooked in larger formats.
In practice
In a coaching clinic to highlight the importance of skills development.
In the last 15 to 20 years the best central midfielder that I have seen β the most complete β is Scholes. I have spoken with Xabi Alonso about this many times. Scholes is a spectacular player who has everything. He can play the final pass, he can score, he is strong, he never gets knocked off the ball and he doesnβt give possession away. If he had been Spanish then maybe he would have been valued more.
In football, the result is an impostor. You can do things really, really well but not win. There's something greater than the result, more lasting - a legacy.
In England, footballers are respected more, the game is more noble, there's less cheating. Every Spaniard who goes loves it - and comes back a better player. If I had ever left, it would have been to England.
I spend the entire 90 minutes looking for space on the pitch. I'm always between the opposition's two holding midfielders and thinking, 'The defence is here, so I get the ball and I go there to where the space is.'
When I look at someone like Andrew Symonds, I see a player who has done phenomenally well with the bat, as his record shows. He certainly has the ability to be a very good all-rounder, but I think to be a great one, you need to be able to turn a game with the bat or the ball.
I realize now that there's a strength in dunking that I can use to my advantage. When you dunk all the time it isn't as demoralizing to the opponent, but when you dunk at a key moment in the game you can use it to change the momentum.
Playing tennis, I didn't tie in my self-worth into winning or losing matches.
They call it the rope-a-dope. Well, I'm the dope. Ali just laid on the rope and I, like a dope, kept punching until I got tired. But he was probably the most smart fighter I've ever gotten into the ring with.
At 17, I already had responsibility because I took care of my family, but in the football I was young; I wasn't experienced or the captain - I was just in the team.
The dumber a pitcher is, the better. When he gets smart and begins to experiment with a lot of different pitches, he's in trouble. All I ever had was a fastball, a curve and a changeup and I did pretty good.
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