Futsal ala Salsa

I’ve been putting this off for ages, not because I didn’t want to write it but I’m always wondering how I’d start this off.

(5 mins in and 3 intros later..........)

Football ala Salsa… err… no.
*Note to self* This is a lot harder than I thought it would be.

(15 mins in, 5 intros and a maggi mee later...........)

Futsal ala Salsa !


Everyone knows about football. It’s the world game! Now futsal… that’s new(ish). The popular past time amongst Malaysians boys (and girls) is gaining popularity by the day and I can attest to that cause I play a good 6 hours of it a week. Ironically, when I hurt my knee last Satuday, my first thought wasn’t that I couldn’t play futsal… it was “OMG! I can’t go for my salsa on Wednesday!”

In fact as an avid footballer I’ve learnt so much from Salsa. I actually got into Salsa because I thought it might improve my game. Watching ‘Jinga’ with all those Brazilians playing and dancing in the streets of Rio made me wonder if there was a connection (of course there is! There has to be!). 4 months in and let me say that taking up Salsa has improved my game tremendously because there are a lot of subtle things in Salsa that you can bring to the pitch. Now I know a lot of guys are skeptical about this but allow me to enlighten you.


All those front and back basics. Who would have known you could trick a person by taking a step forward and another step back. Makes it even more real when you actually put your weight on your forward step (thanks for emphasizing the weight on the front foot Jeamie!). And all those times you watch videos of people stepping over the ball on YouTube… it’s a simple “round the world”. Damn this is getting easy! If only there was a move involving a bicycle kick or something like of the sort… now that would be cool.

So how do I liken football to dancing now? I just treat the ball like my partner (or the other way around) and lead it where you want to go. Beware all those other dancers on the pitch that wanna steal your gal (or man or ball)! Focus on the game, keep her close and by the end you’re sure to score!

I guess Ronaldinho said it best “I play with the music in my head, and my feet move to it”.

So to sum this all up, football is ‘The Beautiful Game’. It’s meant to be played with passion and skill, not with rough with ankle breaking tackles. Play football like you’re dancing. Hands up by your side (I know I don’t do this in class and I should), feeling the rhythm of the music in your head and moving your feet to the beat. Most important of all, make sure you’re having fun!


** patience while the video loads, you'll enjoy this **

Till I see you on the dance floor or the pitch! Joga Bonito! Dança Bonito! -