FUTEBOL DE SALAO, the Brazilian football format that turned Pele and Ronaldo into world stars, is coming to Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong Football Academy, the children's coaching specialists, have become the latest in a rapidly expanding list of International Confederation of Futebol de Salao (ICFDS) Brazilian Soccer Schools.
The ICFDS programme has taken the world by storm. It uses a size two ball (about the size of a handball) and the emphasis is on skill - something that won't be unfamiliar to football addicts who play regularly at Southorn Playground in Wan Chai or at MacPherson Playground in Mongkok.
The weighted (465g) ball hardly bounces, maximising ball-to-foot contact time. In training sessions, players practise brilliant ball tricks to samba music.
The English ICFDS founder Simon Clifford, a sports science graduate, said the system helped children become more complete players.
'We teach children how to be technically superior, to develop confidence and social skills which they can carry beyond the pitch,' said Clifford, who visited Hong Kong to promote the new school earlier this month.
