UEFA Futsal EURO 2022 will be held in the Netherlands from January 19 to February 6, 2022. In Fables of Futsal tells Football zone the stories behind the participants of this European Championship. In this fifth edition, the focus is on Italy, which fell very quickly after the gold medal in 2014. This is the story of a football nation that hopes to finally crawl out of the deep valley with their philosophical coach and ‘a gem’.
By Tim Klijn
Just after half past nine in the evening, the buzzer echoes through the hall to indicate the end of the match. Fourteen Italian players and their technical staff are thrilled at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp. On February 8, 2014 have Gli Azzurri won gold for the second time ever at the European Futsal Championship. Russia has just been beaten 3-1 after a first half with four goals. The Italian selection is in their prime, with an average age of exactly 28 years. The world is at their feet.
How different the situation is eight years later. Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup and is not even the biggest contender to win Group B at the upcoming European Championship. Still, there is hope on the horizon. In 2020, Massimiliano Bellarte was appointed as head coach and he immediately rejuvenated the selection and qualified with Italy for the European Championship. Led by the 44-year-old coach, nicknamed the Philosopher due to his flowery vocabulary and the fact that he talks a lot, five of the six group matches were won. Only once was it narrowly lost. The good qualification is only a small step in the process that Bellarte started with his arrival.
“I joined Italy when it was going really difficult. The selection was outdated, the same players who became European champions in 2014 were still there. Expectations were therefore always high, while things got worse and worse. I had to rejuvenate and bring back the enthusiasm in the squad and in Italian futsal in general,” Bellarte told Football zone.
Bellarte brings that enthusiasm back through a rather distinct philosophy. Where other coaches sometimes pull off tactical feats, he keeps it simple. “My job is just to steer the players in the right direction. I am convinced that a team wins because it plays a certain way. But it’s purely about the quality of the players who play that way. I try to discover good players, then let them play as freely as possible and let them enjoy the game. I believe that intelligence is used to solve problems, while creativity invents a new way. The game belongs to creative players, not intelligent coaches.”
Perhaps the greatest creative in today’s Italy is veteran Alex Merlim. The now 35-year-old Italian was born in Brazil and was already part of the winning selection of 2014. The coach of the Dutch Futsal, Max Tjaden, already mentioned Merlim in the same breath with legend Ricardinho. He called him a gem. His own coach also praises the man who has already played more than a hundred international matches. “He’s one of the best players in the world, it’s an honor to coach him, although I can’t teach him much. I just let him do his thing,” says Bellarte.
Merlim played for several Brazilian clubs before trying his luck outside the borders of his native country in 2007. After leaving for Augusta, he eventually spent eight seasons in Italy and made a domestic transfer to Luparense in 2011. At that club, the 1.71 meter long winger won two national titles, two Supercups and once the Italian Cup tournament. Then it was time for the top to meet Merlim. He transferred to Sporting Portugal, where he achieved many successes. The club has won the national titles and cup tournaments together and since Merlim’s arrival they have also conquered the Champions League twice. In 2018, the club’s first ever Champions League win, Merlim even scored the winning goal. He has played for Italy since 2010. He now also wears the captain’s armband. Merlim has to guide Italy through the tough Group B at the European Championship.
However, the biggest obstacle for Italy is not the heavy group, but comes from within. The selection has to do with corona cases. Five players from the selection have tested positive, including Merlim. Despite that fact, Bellarte puts him on the player list without a doubt. “Alex is just there. I’m hopeful he tests negative and can play. Hopefully even the first game already, but he will definitely play the other games. It is difficult for the rest of the team and for us to train now without the positive tested players. But other teams also suffer from this. We hope we can handle that better than them. We live from day to day, waiting for good news.”
Italy is on paper classified in the strongest group of the European Championship. Newcomer Finland, despite having no tournament experience, is the highest of all the fourth-placed groups in the group, trailing the Italians in World Cup qualifiers. Slovenia stayed ahead of Italy at the European Championship 2018 and Kazakhstan, number four in the UEFA ranking, may have the best goalkeeper in the world with Higuita. Nevertheless, Bellarte is optimistic. “The group is difficult, it will be difficult. We have played against Finland before, including in qualifying. Slovenia knocked us out at the last European Championship and Kazakhstan is one of the best teams in the world. Nevertheless, we will survive the group and take another step in the process. But even if we win the tournament, it’s just another step in a never-ending process.”
