Did you ever wonder what is the most attended futsal match in history? It was a friendly match between Brazil and Argentina played on famous Mané Garrincha Stadium in Brazil's capital Brasília on 7th September 2014. Brazil (the then world champion) defeated Argentina (the present world champion) with 4:1 in front of the 56.483 spectators!
The match was played on a sunny Sunday afternoon on a Brazil's Independence Day (Dia da Independência do Brazil). It was the first futsal match ever played on a football stadium and it surpassed the previous record attendance by more than double (the previous record was 25,712 spectators for the Liga Futsal Finale in Ginásio Mineirinho in Belo Horizonte between Atlético Pax de Minas and Rio de Janeiro Miécimo in 1999).
Besides being the first futsal match being played on a football stadium, and a match between two fiercest rivals, it was Falcão's first match for the national team after nine-month boycott against Brazilian Futsal Confederation (Confederação Brasiliera de Futebol de Salão – CBFS) because of the financial crisis of the entity due to the suspicion of conspiracy, money laundering, embezzlement and crime against the tax order.
Interestingly, Falcão was also the protagonist of the second most attended futsal match in 1999 when he led his Atlético to 5-4 victory with three goals.
As for the friendly match against Argentina, Falcão didn't score. Simi and Sinoȇ opened the scoreline for Brazil and Luisz Gonzáles reduced the home team's advantage at the end of the first half. Eventually, Brazil confirmed the dominance in the second half and reached the convincing victory with Daniel's and Vidalin's goals.
„It was a special day. We made history today. It was a party above all what I expected ... A month ago, we didn't imagine that we could have a game like this, with record-breaking attendance. It was a victory without any contestation. We played well throughout the game; it was a perfect party. Nobody ever imagined that a futsal game could have more than 55 thousand people on the stands. We were all delighted that it happened“, said Falcão after the match for Globoesporte.
Falcão played slightly injured since he suffered a right calf injury before the match.
„I was a little frustrated that I didn't score, I won't deny it. If I scored a goal, I would do something crazy, jump in the crowd. It didn't work, but it was worth it. It would be very selfish of me to worry only about my goal. Of course, everyone wants to score, especially at an event like this. But I am happy to have participated. Four days ago, I didn't even know if I would be on the court. I did an intense job to recover from an injury and I'm glad I was able to help without feeling anything“, said Falcão.
Even though it was an international friendly match between two fierce rivals, the game also had „revival“ tone since it was played in front of a massive audience who had a good time in the stands even though they may not have best seen the action on the blue surface which was quite far from the stands. The strong sun also did not help the visibility.
According to Bruno Cannavan (The founder and a head coach at Caloundra City Futsal in Australia) in a Facebook group Futsal Japan, the match revenued $1.2M in sponsorship, $250K in ticket sales and the television reach of the match was 15 million people!
7th September 2014 - 56.483 fans watching Brazil 4-1 Argentina at Mane Garrincha Stadium in Brazil's Capital. The...
Objavljuje Bruno Cannavan u Ponedjeljak, 7. rujna 2020.
This the most attended futsal match in history proved once more the true potential of our sport. Since then, there were several other futsal matches that brought large attendance but never nearly as much as that sunny Sunday in Brasília on legendary Mané Garrincha Stadium.
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