cazalea[Seiko Moderator]
17091
Maybe not everything is bad?
Aug 25, 2020,09:22 AM
From today's Wall Street Journal
When Argentina went into quarantine in March, Ramiro Fabris was forced to shut down the many soccer fields he oversees in the city of Rosario and two nearby towns. Losses mounted, along with frustration. Desperate, Mr. Fabris and his partners devised an unusual solution: socially-distanced soccer— or football as it’s known here—otherwise known as Human Foosball.
It’s named for the table-top game popular in bars, in which mounted figures on rotating metal poles kick a ball toward an opponent’s goal but can’t otherwise move. In the newly-devised human version, players stand in large, marked-off square quadrants on a field and can do little but kick the ball and pass it to their teammates. All five players on each team must remain in their squares or turn the ball over to opponents.
The game is sweeping Rosario, the birthplace of soccer star Lionel Messi, and has caught the fascination of quarantine-weary Argentina. Other cities and towns also are forming teams. “We can’t stop playing football,” Mr. Fabris said. “It’s such a central part of our life.”
Mr. Fabris’ company, Tifosi Football 5, operates 29 small soccer fields, where teams of five typically play against each other in competitive amateur leagues or loosely organized neighborhood matches.
Mr. Fabris said the idea was sparked after he and his staff happened to watch a video featuring a Brazilian soccer team training on a field split up into quadrants drawn in chalk. Mr. Fabris and his partners, brother Ivan Fabris and Gus tavo Ciuffo, thought, why not play a new version of soccer. The set-up would allow players to still follow social-distancing guidelines. The city of Rosario approved the plan. Soon, other cities in several provinces followed.
Mr. Fabris and his staff at Tifosi used white acrylic paint to outline 12 quadrants on some of the fields. That’s where players are positioned. “I asked people, ‘Could you play like this?’” says Mr. Fabris, who has overseen the fields for 13 years.
It turns out they could. It’s easier to stand in a quadrant and control the ball while passing, all without any pressure from a defender. Since players in Human Foosball can’t take the ball straight to the goal line, there are sometimes long kicks resulting in wild shots. The reason? Those firing the ball toward the net are farther away. And there are no players bearing down.
In the middle of one game when a teammate tried to kick the ball hard to make a long pass. It hit the referee in the head. “Everyone laughed, the referee, too, In normal football, we wouldn’t have made that long pass.”
Mediocre soccer players have become champions. Lucas Monza, 25, watched as a goalie who couldn’t normally stop shots, blocked everything. “He throws himself around, dives through the air, lands on the field and ended up being the hero of the match,” said Mr. Monza, a sports journalist. “You have to be more dynamic,” says Mr. Monza. “You have to be more precise. Everyone is in a quadrant, so you’re limited to where you can go. You have to be careful about your passes.”
Under the rules set by Mr. Fabris, the better teams play one-touch soccer: A player can only kick or head the ball once when it comes into his or her quadrant. Less experienced teams are allowed to touch the ball multiple times. Sometimes players fight over the rules, such as when the ball touches the line and appears to go into another quadrant. “There’s always a big argument,” said Mr. Fabris.
Lorena Quintana, 21, who works in public relations, plays on a team that typically allows her up to four touches of the ball because, “to be honest, I’m not one of the best,” she said. “You try to figure out a way to get the ball to the quadrant where your teammate is,” she said. “A good pass is crucial.”
“For those of us who are accustomed to football, it’s not what we’re used to, but it’s what we have now. And it’s better than not playing.”