It was that easy. At least for Portugal. Ticket for Philippines 2025 punched. This is what really great teams do. They crush the opponents in their way to achieve the main goal. Hungary was wiped from the PalaRoma floor because they stood between Luis Conceicao’s girls and a place in the first ever Women’s Futsal World Cup.
“Do your job” was a mantra Bill Belichick left as a burning mark on the souls of his players. That’s what Portuguese players did. They took the field with a mission. This is what sets apart great teams from even just good teams. Great teams perform at their best no matter the opponents, no matter the odds.
That’s a lesson Italy should learn, as fast as possible. In the end they got the win, as the skill level difference with Sweden indicated even before the game. They struggled too much with a team that just 24 hours earlier conceded nine goals versus Portugal.
Italy let Sweden back into the game twice. Struggling in a match that should have never been that close. If Italy wants to compete, for real, with the better teams out there, they need a different kind of attitude. When you take the field versus an opponent way down in the futsal food chain and you crush their souls. You keep scoring, attacking, you get physical if you need to be.
You do not complain with the refs, you fight back.
More than anything else, you stop being happy and celebrating something you should consider the bare minimum. If you really, really think you can beat them all, then again, being there is just the bare minimum. That’s the real gap. The only true split among competitors is confidence. Above a certain skill level, it’s who you are, your core beliefs are the only difference maker.
Now, the real competition begins.
