Mobor, Goa: Manchester United legend Paul Scholes believes that the level of the game in the ongoing Premier Futsal was much higher than any other tournament he has seen before.
Scholes, who like Ryan Giggs played his entire professional football career for Manchester United, was speaking to reporters here. He is part of the ongoing Premier Futsal which has reached the semi-finals stage.
“I was asked to (play) and it (is) an exciting game. I did play in China about 18 months ago, but not to this level. The level I have seen here is much higher than any Futsal I have seen before. There are very skillful players and next time, I will be more ready for it,” he said.
“It was quite difficult. But this (Futsal) is totally different game, it is a small game (and) you have to be quick, you (also) need to defend and also have to be attacking to score goals at a very small goal post.
“The standard of play has been really good and there are exciting players and when you watch this players, it is hard to understand why they are (not) playing proper football rather than Futsal,” said the 41-year-old former midfield maestro at Old Trafford.
Echoing views of English futsaller Doug Reed and his former Manchester United teammate Giggs, Scholes said Futsal is similar to Twenty 20 cricket.
Asked if Premier Futsal has the potential to achieve what Indian Premier League has done to cricket in India, Scholes, who has played cricket in his younger days, said, “Yeah, I hope so. It should do it, Indian people like that form (Twenty 20), it is very quick, exciting with fours and sixes all the time.
“That’s very similar on a Futsal side, it (requires) quick skills and (has) fantastic goals, it is very similar to Twenty20 cricket (and) we all know cricket is popular in India. If we can get football and futsal sides even close to cricket, there is a chance in years to come that India will produce similarly good footballers,” he said.
