Venezuelan injured in qualifiers for Lithuania 2021
Pandemic allowed him to recover for World Cup
Player talks about that experience, as well as team preparations and goals
It was 6 February 2020, with Venezuela contesting the biggest game in their futsal history, when Alfredo de Jesus Vidal felt something was not right. Instinctively, he looked to the bench and signalled for a change.
After being seen by the team doctor on the sidelines, the player tried to briefly accelerate, “only to feel my knee go”. On the court, his Vinotinto team-mates continued to battle Chile as they sought to seal a maiden berth at the FIFA Futsal World Cup.
"I calmed down and tried to do my bit from the sidelines, still wanting to get back out there but knowing I couldn’t," Vidal tells FIFA.com. "When the final whistle went, I forgot about the pain and the disappointment of everything I was going to miss and just began celebrating," adds the 27-year-old winger, who contributed one goal during qualification.
That 3-2 win over Chile in their final group-stage game of the South American qualifiers not only put Venezuela into the tournament semi-final, but also secured a historic qualification for the FIFA Futsal World Cup in Lithuania. "The feeling was overwhelming – filling me and everyone who loves Venezuelan futsal with joy
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