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As far as Braulio Fontoura can recall, he began playing futsal competitively, for a club, when he “was about 20, 21 years old”. Before that, the Angolan would play on the street outside his home in Lubango, a mountain town situated at an altitude of 1,700m.
Today, having recently turned 30, the winger wears the No5 shirt for Angola and is about to add FIFA Futsal World Cup™ participation to his CV. This is one of the stories that symbolises the rise of the sport in the country. Angola, after missing the first eight editions of the global finals, are heading to their second in succession.
“My roots, that’s a long story,” Braulio told FIFA. “I started off playing 11-a-side junior football. I spent a long time without playing too. And on my street there was a sports court where me and my friends played.
“In our group I had a friend who played futsal, and he asked me if I wanted to try out for his team. I went and did the trial and the coach liked me.
“At first it was hard, because the way we played on the street was totally different. But I gradually adapted. I trained and trained and trained, and haven’t stopped to this day. Being here is surreal. I never expected this.”
As Braulio said, he actually stopped playing for a time, even though he was one of Angola’s most promising talents. Named in the preliminary squad for their first FIFA Futsal World Cup, the talented and lanky winger failed to turn up for training.
It turns out that, encouraged by friends and relatives, he had decided to give 11-a-side one last shot and was on trial at Primeiro de Maio de Benguela, over 350km north of Lubango, on the way to the capital Luanda.
“It was a bit complicated,” Braulio said. “I was advised that it would be best to carry on in 11-a-side, due to the exposure. Futsal is only just starting to become well-known now. So I took that advice on board and carried on with the trial.
“After some time though, there were some issues, I had to return to my home town of Lubango, and there I went back to training futsal. That’s when the new coach [Marcos Antunes] looked at me and gave me a second chance.”
Angola stunned continental giants Egypt 7-3 to reach the upcoming FIFA Futsal World Cup. Their runners-up finish at the CAF Futsal AFCON earned them space in the Angolan press, who have been following their progress in Portugal. The Sable Antelopes thrashed Uzbekistan 6-1, before losing 2-1 to the same side in a rematch.
“In the first game, we got a good result,” he said. “We sat back to defend in a low block and study their game. And then we counter-attacked with quick transitions.
“But in the second game it was completely different. We defended with a high press, had lots of goal-scoring opportunities, failed to score, and they won the game capitalising on our mistakes.
“The expectations are high. I myself had never imagined that I would be here in Portugal preparing for a World Cup, bearing in mind that, when I started out, getting this far was never in my mind. Now it’s a matter of leaving everything in God’s hands.”
At Lithuania 2021, Angola lost all three games, against Spain, Paraguay and Japan, and were eliminated having scored six and conceded 16 goals. Now, on the way to Uzbekistan, they have the aim of reaching the knockout phase from a group containing Argentina, who were finalists in the last two editions and champions in 2016, Ukraine and debutants Afghanistan.
“We are preparing well,” Braulio said. “If we get out of our group then I think it will have been a good tournament. We are studying the other teams. We have to believe that we can produce good performances against them and then, against Argentina, whom we know well, we’ll see what happens.
“The more exposure Angolan futsal gets, the more talents from our country can go abroad. It’s good to be an ambassador and pioneer in [Angolan] futsal history. Nothing makes me happier.”
