Social Responsibility was the key note of the European Universities Futsal Championship 2019 kick-off

A Futsal match between the women´s and the men´s Minho University teams and a team of the Generation Tecla Project took place at the University´s main sports hall. This match marked the European Universities Futsal Championship 2019 kick-off.

It was a way for promoting university sport as a means for social inclusion, involving 30 young people who really enjoyed the moment.

One of these children, Carlos Maia, said that he really liked having played against “real players”. Sara Nascimento pointed out that “it was great coming to play futsal at the University”. António Salazar, whose football hero is Cristiano Ronaldo, said that “he had a great time and that it was cool and very amusing". 

 

 

This event also provided the opportunity to assess the preparation of the AAUMinho teams present in the EUSA futsal 2019, starting next 15 July. They share a common objective: to reach the medals stage. “We are working in order to attain a positive performance and although we are aware of the difficulties that we will face, our objective is to reach the medal stage” said Anselmo Calais the men´s team coach. He pointed out that the main strength of his team is the “team spirit” and that “most players have been playing together for a while now which makes us confident we will perform well”. However he noted that competing at the European level is a hard for you are never sure what to count on as far as your opponents are concerned, and there might be a lot of surprises” he concluded.

 

As for Luis Silva, the women´s team coach, talking about expectations in a European Competition is not an easy thing, but he said that his team has been training to get suitable match routines to better face any situation. Luis Silva also stressed the fact that “playing at home is clearly an advantage, for playing with the support of your own crowd gives you an extra motivation”.

 

Filipa Mendes, the captain of the women´s team, expects a fantastic event in Braga: “I have played in other European championships, but playing at home is something different. I expect the city and the academic community to come and support us and I am sure that this will be a remarkable event”. As for the team’s expectations for the Championships, Filipa says that “we are ready to play and we are anxious for it to start” and that the objective is to reach the final and to win it!”

 

 Vídeo: https://www.facebook.com/eusafutsal/videos/585447535318198/