At the beginning of next year, UEFA Futsal EURO 2022 will be organized in the Netherlands. In the run-up to this tournament, presenter Mounir Boualin enters Futsal Fanatics visiting familiar faces with a great love for futsal. In the fourth episode he visits Edward van Gils, aka the ‘Godfather of street football’. The four-time street football world champion can even be seen in FIFA Volta.
Van Gils played two seasons at AZ in his younger years and was invited to the pre-selection of the Dutch Juniors. The native Koger left for HFC Haarlem, where he was eventually sent away after stealing a scooter. At Excelsior, Van Gils got one last chance. During that period, his father died and his girlfriend became pregnant, so Van Gils decided to stop playing field football. He went on to play futsal and street football and founded the Street Kings, a company through which he gives clinics and demonstrations about street football.
According to van Gils, the difference between street football and indoor football is small, but definitely noticeable. “Street football is a bit more free. You have no coach, no training. On the other hand, that is also the charm of futsal, there you have walking lines and it is played more tactically. We were the first street football players in the world, but that was not accepted by the futsal community. I think that’s a shame, if they would have embraced street football at the time, it could have been an extra weapon at a European Championship or World Cup.”
The man who was born in Koog aan de Zaan had the pleasure of playing street football with Ronaldinho. He teamed up with the superstar for an advertisement for the game FIFA Street, which featured the Barça legend on the cover. Five years later, Van Gils suddenly received a mysterious message. “I got an app: ‘Can you give me a list of the 40 best street football players in the world?’ I said, ‘Yes, of course, but who do I have the pleasure of meeting?’ I turned out to have Ronaldinho’s management on the phone. I thought I was being screwed, but the officials at Barcelona have verified it. Then I thought: wow!
The ‘Godfather of street football’ got in touch and supplied Ronaldinho with the list. The Brazilian chose six players from the list for a team that could play together in a tournament and appointed Van Gils as captain. “Suddenly I gave Ronaldinho assists, bizarre. They had also played that tournament the year before. He was nearby and was selected at the last minute. When he arrived on his Nike Air Force shoes, they are like shoe boxes. I think he scored 12 goals in a match, won everything and gave people pannas. When he touches the ball, something magical happens.”
“You notice at these kinds of tournaments that we are a country that does not have professional futsal”, Van Gils refers to the approaching European Championship in the Netherlands. “That makes a world of difference, because they play against professionals. I expect that they will surprise, they will do their utmost and play good futsal.”
Mounir Boualin is a freelance football vlogger, video journalist and presenter. For Voetbalzone he makes interviews about matches.