Watching Kazakhstan make their way at the FIFA Futsal World Cup in Colombia, it’s fair to say they look nothing like your stereotypical side without a win to their name. Over-awed? Inexperienced? Disjointed? Not even a shred.
But then having got on the podium at UEFA Futsal EURO 2016 as debutants, that is perhaps not a surprise. They’ve been in this position before and thrived. This all didn’t happen overnight, though.
After coming narrowly unstuck in their opening game against Argentina, having more than worried the eight-time participants in a slender 1-0 defeat, they got off the mark in terms of points and goals, with defender Leo delighted to see his name amongst the scorers in their 3-1 win over Costa Rica.
“It’s great to have got such a beautiful goal at a World Cup,” he told FIFA.com, having scored a cheeky back-heeled flick immediately after half time. “And for it to have contributed to our first ever win at the finals too makes it even better. I couldn’t be happier.”
The key to their fluidity is not hard to find. If you’re diligent enough to take a glance at the team sheet, you would probably work it out, as two words are stamped all over it. Kairat Almaty. Seven times. Make it eight if you excuse Leo’s recent loan move to Sporting CP and add another – and arguably most importantly – as Kazakhstan coach Ricardo Sobral also holds the reins at club level.
“It has made a huge difference as more than half of us played there and it means we have been able to really perfect some major parts of our game,” the Brazilian-born Leo explained. “We spent two months focussing purely on getting ready to come to Colombia.”
It’d be no surprise if those preparations led to his goal itself. Drifting clear of his marker in Los Ticos’ area, a simple pass from Douglas – one of his Almaty compatriots – picked out Leo to apply his deft touch. “We’ve been able to push ourselves so much further because of this connection.
“It’s allowed us improve ourselves in all areas of the pitch, from dead balls to defending, as what we do with Kazakhstan, we also have been doing with Almaty. It’s meant we’ve been able to grow us a team more and more as time’s gone by.”
This seamless unit has taken time to forge, dating back to when the 29-year-old moved from his native Santa Catarina in 2009. But that time has borne fruit in the process. “When I first joined the team, we were still really unknown, but over time we managed to build, grow and improve, as did I, which enabled us to climb up and eventually with two UEFA Futsal Cups.”
Having battled the cold – “it gets to minus 30 there and I had never seen snow before!” – the language, and, hardest of all, the 15,000km from his family – “you can’t replace your family, I only get to them once a year, it’s very tough on me” – Leo is back in South America, flying the flag of Kazakhstan.
Now here, he is out to get to the top, but he knows there is a tough hurdle ahead. The same shaped hurdle that kept them from the Futsal EURO final. “We’re going give our all, and having beaten Costa Rica we are probably looking at a meeting with Spain, but even so we’re going to try our hardest and even if we lose, we’re going to do everything we can to leave the name of Kazakhstan as high as we can.”