Chennai : Football legends Ryan Giggs and Hernan Crespo led from the front in Mumbai 5’s and Kolkata 5’s identical 4-2 wins over Chennai and Goa respectively in the inaugural Premier Futsal League that got off to a grand start at the floodlight Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor stadium here.
In the inaugural match, Giggs led by example as Mumbai put together a solid defense and gave Chennai a master-class on counter-attack.
Giggs took the charge against the ‘Pele of Futsal’, Falcao, and came out on top to claim the first game of the inaugural tournament.
Giggs has been with Manchester United for almost three decades playing football, but today was his debut on the futsal pitch. Mumbai 5’s strike force had the firepower of Giggs and Foglia who won the ‘Best Futsal Player’ award in 2003. Mumbai opened the scoring after they won a penalty. Sirilo’s handball allowed Foglia to step up and score a calm penalty sending the keeper the wrong way. In the first quarter, Chennai had the bulk of the chances but couldn’t back their flair play with accurate finishing.
