The routine involves placing balls midway across the court and finding his range. He runs towards one, lifts it in the air, controls it just right and launches himself into the first overhead kick. Immediately afterwards, he runs for the second ball and produces another bicycle kick. And again, five or six more times.<\/p>\n
Once he has finished training, there is nothing left in the tank. Out of breath, sweating and slightly dizzy, Lucas Ponzetti, a key player in an Argentina squad aiming to make history at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup UAE 2024 Dubai\u2122, keeps going until the technique is honed to perfection. Lifting the ball as high as he can and making contact at the highest point possible to achieve the most powerful of strikes.<\/p>\n
And there is enjoyment to be had in this demanding routine: flying towards the ball, spinning round, smashing it in the air and tumbling to the sand. The 24-year-old Ponzetti is a beach soccer player through and through. He learned to read the ball\u2019s unpredictable movements on the sand from a tender age, the perfect areas to catch out goalkeepers and the ideal techniques to switch the play or get off a shot.<\/p>\n
There are few players like him in Argentina, who have qualified for next month\u2019s global finals in Dubai after missing out on the last three editions. The aim is to go further than ever before, with La Albiceleste haivng never progressing beyond the quarter-finals in eight previous appearances at the competition.<\/p>\n
What impact has Argentina not taking part in recent editions of the Beach Soccer World Cup had?
\nLucas Ponzetti: I was involved in the last two qualifying phases, in 2019 and 2021. I think that we performed well. We were just lacking a bit of luck. In 2019 we came very close and we might even have qualified, as Paraguay had a [guaranteed] spot as hosts and we were unfortunate to finish fourth. In 2021 our preparations were impacted by the pandemic; we couldn\u2019t train at the Argentina FA\u2019s facilities, and everything was an uphill struggle.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s changed now?
\nWe played a lot more game during the preparation period, had a lengthy period of competitions and went into the Copa America on a good run of form. That helped boost our confidence. We were able to improve our attacking play and our defensive organisation too. We had a very good squad in 2023, that was key, as well as the competitiveness that ensured we went into the Copa with plenty of belief.<\/p>\n
Sebastian Gomez Polatti told us the fact Argentina don\u2019t look to gain a numerical advantage using their goalkeeper works in their favour, because it makes them less predictable. What do you think?
\nI agree with Seba, he doesn\u2019t need to add using his feet to his game. He\u2019s one of the best goalkeepers around in my opinion. In the Americas he\u2019s among the best, if not the best. We play a 3-1 system with a lot of rotation, a lot of different interpretations. It\u2019s not a predictable style of play. When you play a 2-2 system, while it helps you create certain movements it also makes you a bit predictable, because you\u2019ve got two wide players and the ball is going to go to them. We play with a lot of rotation, movement and switches. Argentina are harder to analyse. A movement, some vision or anything a player invents and manages to pull off is going to catch you by surprise, however much you study us.<\/p>\n
The issue with the 2-2 is that if you don\u2019t carry it out well it leaves you very open, because you\u2019re left with two players very open and two very high [up the court], so you need to be very precise. Everything needs to be perfect, there\u2019s no margin for error. We feel comfortable defending against a 2-2 system and then hitting them on the counter. Our system really suits us and we\u2019ve also got a player like Lucas Medero, who\u2019s got a great shot on him and helps us punish any stray passes at the back.<\/p>\n
What do Argentinian players have that could help give them a unique edge in Dubai?
\nWe\u2019re really passionate and we thrive in big games and tough situations. I don\u2019t really know what it is, but it\u2019s something innate. We always come through difficult times. That\u2019s what we Argentinians have: we\u2019re passionate and in tough moments we make it through and keep giving more.<\/p>\n
What is it about beach soccer that you like the most?
\nI really like its playability \u2013 that\u2019s what I\u2019m most drawn to. I always talk about the level of technical ability that\u2019s required too. You have to be really precise, your control and passing needs to be good. And then there are the overhead kicks, they’re what\u2019s most eye-catching about this sport. I think that 11-a-side football has lost some of its spectacle in terms of individuality. It\u2019s true that beach soccer has evolved, because it\u2019s played more quickly now, and it\u2019s not so static because there\u2019s loads of rotation. But there\u2019s still enough space to have one-on-ones or two-on-ones. To create those, you need to work very hard and that\u2019s something which really appeals to me. You have to be very intelligent to generate those kinds of situations and be very precise and skilful too. In 11-a-side it\u2019s more normal because the bounce of the ball is even, you don\u2019t need to concentrate as hard on where the ball\u2019s going but on sand you do. You need to be extremely precise and I enjoy that.<\/p>\n
Can you tell us about the importance of bicycle kicks in beach soccer?
\nThe bicycle kick is an asset that is well-protected. Once you get the ball in the air, opponents aren\u2019t allowed to challenge you\u2026 the only way to defend is from 1.5 metres away, by trying to block the shot. It\u2019s a move that\u2019s a hallmark of this sport and care is taken to ensure that remains the case. Players who can do bicycle kicks are given protection, because once you create that situation then nobody can challenge you. With overhead kicks, once you\u2019ve grasped the finer details, you get better and better.
\nHow would an 11-a-side pro handle playing on sand?
\nIt\u2019s very difficult. Even running is different, your running technique. On sand, if you plant your foot fully down, you\u2019ll be too slow. You have to stay on your toes as you run, to react more quickly. I grew up close to Caribe Canalla (which belongs to Rosario Central). In summer we\u2019d play kickabouts and there\u2019d be top-division footballers there who, on the sand, looked lost. They wanted to make the same moves [as on grass] and on sand it\u2019s not possible. On this, when the ball stops, it\u2019s in a dip. You\u2019ve got to control it on the move to keep it on top of a ridge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The routine involves placing balls midway across the court and finding his range. He runs towards one, lifts it in the air, controls it just right and launches himself into the first overhead kick. Immediately afterwards, he runs for the second ball and produces another bicycle kick. And again, five or six more times. Once […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":929653,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20966],"tags":[9648,27192],"class_list":["post-929652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fifa-news","tag-fifa","tag-fifa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/929652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=929652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/929652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/929653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=929652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=929652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=929652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}