12 minute read
THANK YOU, LEGENDS
Thank you, legends
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The beach soccer world will not be the same after 2021. Some iconic players retired from the international stage leaving a void that will hardly be filled. Two of those players are living legends Llorenç Gómez (Spain) and Peyman Hosseini (Iran).
The first notice about that came after the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, when Llorenç Gómez announced his retirement from professional beach soccer due to an injury.
In a statement released on Sunday evening, the 29-year-old said: “After a magical decade, I’m leaving this amazing period of my life.
Llorenç: “I had to make a tough decision, but I have to prioritize the quality of the rest of my life”
I came across professional beach soccer at 19 years old. I have run across the most extraordinary beaches and scored goals in the most important stadiums in the world.
The reason that I am retiring is the injuries that I’ve suffered, which have been diagnosed as degenerative, and I want to prioritise the quality of the rest of my life over my life as a professional athlete.”
He suffered the latest in a string of injuries during Spain’s FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup campaign, which will now stand as his final competition.
Following an incredible individual season in 2018, Llorenç was nominated as the Best Player in the World for that season. He has represented top clubs such as Kristall (RUS), Flamengo (BRA), Lokomotiv Moscow (RUS) and Barcelona (ESP), as well as scoring 205 goals in 165 games for La Roja.
Hosseini steps down international stage
Legendary goalkeeper Peyman Hosseini, undeniably one of the best goalkeepers in the history of the sport, brought his international career to an end, bowing out at the Tecnotree Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup in Dubai in November this year.
However, he made it very clear that this does not mean that he will leave beach soccer and the beach soccer family. Beach soccer is his place, something he has no doubt about.
On top of continuing to compete at club level in Iran, he is already thinking about how to continue to add value to the sport that he absolutely adores.
Hosseini: “I love beach soccer, and what I want to do is teach the next generation of players now”
“I love beach soccer and I will keep working in beach soccer“, he assured. In the near future, his plans are to transmit his knowledge and experience to the coming generations. First, becoming the goalkeeper coach of the Iran National Team but his objective is also to work with children.
“I want to create an academy in my city, Largan, in Mazandaran, and start working with young players. I believe that beach soccer is better than any other sport or modality of football, and my intention is to bring as many people to beach soccer as possible, help them in getting to know the sport and become enchanted by it. I know they will as soon as they try it.”
Whatever their plans are, both Llorenç and Peyman will always be true assets for beach soccer, and their charisma, knowledge and experience will continue to help the sport grow to new levels.
The journey does not end here, thank you for everything, guys.
Hosseini and Abdollahi said goodbye to the Iranian fans in Dubai.
Hosts claim maiden Independence Cup in Kiev
Independence Beach Soccer Cup Kiev 2021
The 2021 season saw the brand-new Independence Cup added to the beach soccer calendar
Ukraine impress at the firstever Independence Beach Soccer Cup to claim the title on home sand!
Even in the difficult times posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, beach soccer still managed to reach new height and establish new events across the world. The latest addition to the evergrowing calendar is the Independence Beach Soccer Cup Kiev.
The Ukrainian capital was the backdrop for a three-day contest which saw four of the world’s top beach soccer nations come together to contend a fresh title.
The hosts narrowly came out on top against the visiting national teams of UAE, Turkey and Oman to claim a momentous title. the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup which took place just weeks after, and they met in a tight battle on Day 1, where the UAE just edged the opener by two goals to one.
Ukraine then put eight past Turkey, including a hat-trick from the towering striker Andrei Pashko who is fast becoming a focal point of the Ukrainian attack, to go top of the group.
Ukraine’s wonderkid Andrii Pashko was the top scorer of the competition
On Day 2, it was a second win for Ukraine, who handed a second defeat to Oman, with a final score of 3-1, despite Abdullah taking an initial lead for the visitors.
In the other match, Turkey left it very late to get off the mark and go level on points with UAE and Oman when they beat the Emiratis five goals to three.
On the final day of matches, what was essentially a final ended in stalemate where penalties were the only way to decide the match between Ukraine and UAE.
Although the Emirati sealed the point at stake from the 9-meter distance, the overall points kept the hosts atop the standings.
This result saw Ukraine lift the title and UAE finish in second, while Oman dealt a devastating 7-0 thumping to Turkey to claim third.
Local young hero Andrii Pashko finished as the Top Scorer on five, earning Ukraine another trophy, while the other individual awards went to UAE players. Shot-stopper Humaid took home the Best Goalkeeper trophy, while Waleed Beshr won the MVP.
Another successful beach soccer event established, and the 2022 season will see the return of the Independence Cup even bigger and better than the first edition.
The final whistle
International referees Matticoli, Almeida and Günther called it a day this season
Dubai will always be special for Gionni Matticoli.
The end of the 2021 beach soccer season will also be marked by the farewell of three of the most iconic referees in the world: Gionni Matticoli, Torsten Günther and Antonio Almeida.
The final of the Tecnotree Intercontinental Beach Cup Dubai 2021 meant the last of the 341 games directed by Matticoli, a referee that has been present in nothing less than five FIFA Beach Soccer Cups.
After more than 13 years refereeing at the highest level, including 13 finals of the biggest competitions, the most important thing Matticoli keeps is the people he has got to know during these years.
Dubai, Moscow and Figueira da Foz, their last dances
“I have had the chance to meet and share my time with amazing people, both referees, players, coaches, managers, etc. who have made me grow as a person. I am really thankful to all of them“, he admits.
In a very similar terms, Portuguese refereeing legend Antonio Almeida explains that “beach soccer has given me such fantastic things. Refereeing is absolutely my passion, and getting to know other people, different countries and different cultures has been amazing, just as the chance to learn from the very best over these years“, Almeida highlights.
Following 223 international games at the highest level (plus hundreds more at the Portuguese National Championship), the game for the third place at the last Mundialito de Clubes (being Portuguese he could not referee the final, as SC Braga were involved) was his farewell to refereeing. A top class stage for a top class referee.
These two referees, a true reference in the beach soccer global stage, have set the bar really high for all those who want to follow their steps, and say goodbye to our sport, at least at the highest level, banking on the respect from everyone, including players, coaches and fans all over the globe.
Some weeks before, the Women’s Euro Beach Soccer League Superfinal meant the last dance for German International Torsten Günter. The DFB (German FA) stick to the age limit so he knew that 2021 would be his last year, unfortunately.
All three will keep helping beach soccer grow. Now they will do it off the pitch
Figueira da Foz, then, meant the end of the refereeing career for Torsten after 27 years of refereeing, in which he not only raised the standard of refereeing at a global level, but contributed decisively to the creation of the German National League.
In 2014 he became a FIFA referee, what had him refereeing 150 international games, plus eight German finals. Years that had him traveling the world and enjoying very special moments:
“I remember once, in the Virginia Beach event, I had to stop the game because a kid was crying and all the players got down on one knee, the player with the ball was holding the ball, and they did not keep playing until the crying child was comforted. I had goose bumps”, he explains.
As he himself says, it is not the end of his beach soccer life, as he will keep promoting the development of the sport and helping younger referees as coach and instructor, willing to keep contributing to the projection of beach soccer, “my passion”.
Figueira saw Torsten Günther referee his last game. Antonio Almeida would still take part in the Mundialito de Clubes.
2022 season: Workshop in Dubai launches the coming beach soccer year
The season may have ended in November, but the work doesn’t stop there, as we look ahead to all the amazing beach soccer planned for 2022.
The official launch of the 2022 beach soccer season returned to its usual time and place in Dubai on Friday 5 November.
In attendance were some of the biggest names in the sport such as 2021 Best Coach nominee Angelo Schirinzi, starting his birthday celebrations at the Season Launch, Ozu, this season’s Best Player, Mikhail Likhachev, this season’s Best Coach, as well as Portuguese beach soccer legend, Madjer.
Ricardo Garcia, Director of Competitions at BSWW, outlined the new project of the Centres of Excellence. “We really want to develop beach soccer on a global scale. Our idea is that these Centres of Excellence will a big step forward in the growth of the sport. We want to have a headquarters on every continent, and a contact there.”
Then it was the turn of Michele Conti, FIFA Referee Coordinator, to discuss the changes in the Laws of the Game. “We are always trying to improve the game to attract new teams, new players and new fans,” he commented, and then received some questions from the players and coaches in the audience.
After that, Iñaki Uribarri, Director of Communications at BSWW, brought the subject of women’s beach soccer to the floor, outlining a four-pillar plan, and highlighting the importance of visibility and awareness in growing the women’s game.
“We have put a lot of effort into the development of the women’s game. We went from three national teams in 2015 to 25 this year. But there is always room for improvement. Only 12% of the national associations have women’s teams.”
A big step in the development and streamlining of beach soccer events has been the new platform, My Beach Soccer, and Laura Cusco, Director of Marketing, and Rafael Devisate from the competitions department, provided a quick rundown of how the system works and the huge advantages it will provide for everyone involved in the beach soccer events.
Finally, the exciting moment of the calendar reveal came, as Josep Ponset, Director of Events, went through a preliminary draft of the 2022 season calendar.
The ammendments to the Laws of the Game, the 2022 projected calendar, the women’s beach soccer or the new platform were debated
He had some important announcements about alterations to some classic events. “In the 2022 Euro Beach Soccer League, four Division B teams will be promoted to Division A.”
On top of that, he revealed exiting news about editions to the beach soccer scene. “We have new teams who will be entering the competitions next year, including Belgium, Malta and Israel”
He also disclosed that the 2023 European Games will include both men’s and women’s categories for the first time.
The Portuguese start-up will launch and manage NFTs of key moments in beach soccer history
Beach Soccer Worldwide and RealFevr have signed a three-year partnership agreement through which the Portuguese start-up will become the official beach soccer NFT (Non-Fungible Tokens) platform.
Established in 2015, RealFevr is today expanding to be the leader of the NFT Market by launching the First-Ever Football Video NFTs Marketplace, fully backed by IP, which is the differential point of their model.
RealFevr aims to completely disrupt the NFTs ecosystem by combining breakthrough tech, blockchain’s decentralization, with the uniqueness of video collectibles that empower gamers, providing utility to each moment and gamifying it in an entire ecosystem of NFT games.
Through this collaboration, Beach Soccer Worldwide and RealFevr will jointly create a set of NFTs from different key moments in the history of the sport, including not only beach soccer legends like Madjer, Amarelle or Jorginho, but also former world-class football players such as Romário, Cantona, Zico, or Zidane, all coming soon to the RealFevr platform.
Fred Antunes, RealFevr’s CEO Said: The partnership with Beach Soccer Worldwide is the realization of an old passion resulting from the results obtained by Portugal in several competitions. Beach Soccer is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world and is a strategic partnership for consolidation in Latin America, Europe, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates, among others. After viewing the available content, in addition to the iconic acrobatic goals, we were fascinated by the number of “hidden gems” that we are sure will drive crazy, not only football fans but the entire crypto community.
Joan Cuscó, Beach Soccer Worldwide president, highlighted the importance of this agreement: “We have always thought that beach soccer is rich in unforgettable moments, and this partnership with RealFevr will now allow us to bring them back to life in the form of NFTs, and this is something we regard as a truly valuable possibility. We are really happy to partner with a company with such a forward-thinking mindset which at the same time understands the importance of the Intellectual Property, and we are absolutely sure that this collaboration with RealFevr will bring many exciting things in a near future.”
Periodically, a drop will be released, and beach soccer fans all over the world will be able to own a historical moment, purchasable with $FEVR, the RealFevr Token.
More information at https://www.realfevr.com/
