The coach was already part of the structure of the Angolan Futsal Federation (FAFUSA), integrating the entourage of the national team that debuted in a World Cup, in Lithuania, in September 2021, but earlier this year he accepted the challenge to occupy the position of coach. national team, replacing the Angolan Rui Sampaio.
"My parents and grandparents are Angolans and the culture is well rooted in my origins", began by explaining the coach to Lusa, guaranteeing that his presence in the World Cup as a 'team manager' and the possibility of becoming a coach at 45 weighed on the decision.
"I realized that I could contribute to the development of the sport", he shoots, without revealing the terms of the bond.
Currently, the coach works remotely, due to the covid-19 pandemic, also waiting for indications about the dates of competitions to travel to the country, but guarantees that he will take advantage of the coming times to create plans, strategies and listen to the Angolan community associated with the modality.
The coach is expected to debut as a coach in official competitions in May, in the COSAFA Cup (Council of Southern African Football Associations), which will be played in Mozambique, followed by the qualifying matches for the 2024 African Cup of Nations. (CAN2024), in which the three best classified guarantee a spot in this year's World Cup.
This, he acknowledges, is "the main objective" of the Angolan team. But to achieve this, there is a path that has to be outlined.
Marcos Antunes lists "eccentricity" and "improvisation" as inherent characteristics of the Angolan player, "who comes from the neighborhood and the street".
"This is extraordinary in modern futsal, where these 'jugglers' begin to disappear", he notes, considering, however, that to these characteristics it is necessary to add knowledge about the principles of the game, in order to improve the tactical part and, consequently, the organization of the team inside the court.
"It is essential to create the profile of the future of the Angolan player, both male and female", he says, praising the importance that athletes, clubs, associations in the provinces and the federation represent for any selection.
Regarding the recruitment base, he says, it is the capital Luanda, where "there are more resources to bring this talent", but the training coach also emphasizes that everyone will benefit from the same opportunities, until it becomes possible "to bet heavily on the player who competes in Angola".
"More tests are needed and take the competition to the training levels", he maintains, stressing the need to "potentiate all the provinces to the maximum and then, then, attract the most talented, putting the players, if possible, in contact with other realities".
Of the 16 players called up for the 2021 World Cup, he recalls, four played abroad.
However, futsal is a sport to take the first "big steps" in Angola and in a first phase, he comments, it is essential to create conditions for sustainable growth. From the outset, creating equal opportunities for all and guaranteeing training material.
"There is a lack of balls, training material, accredited training for coaches and managers", he underlines, adding the need for more competitions for the training levels and new "models for registering players, club affiliation and legalization of some processes", since that "without putting balls in the training grounds there will be no futsal".
But that alone is not enough. "It is also necessary to train coaches, managers and delegates, bringing new dynamics, new ideas and, above all, conditions so that they can train and play", stresses the Portuguese coach, highlighting the importance of "instilling in the new generations the academic spirit" and the personal formation.
In Portugal, the coach, with several district titles in the training levels, continues to exercise the role of technical coordinator of the "Os Afonsinhos" futsal school, in São Martinho de Mouros, in Resende, a project that earned him the "Quinas de Ouro" of the Portuguese Football Federation, in 2018.
The club, founded in 2010 and which two years ago signed a partnership with the Spanish club Inter Movistar, has 80 athletes between the children and junior levels, reconciling sporting merit with academic merit. "Only those who comply with the rules at school play. First, there are values and only then comes futsal", he asserts.
"Of the 14 players who started to represent the club in 2011, at the children's level, 12 are now graduated, later proceeding to master's degrees, and the other two opted for professional courses", praises Marcos Antunes, who will now have to reconcile his personal project with the mission of helping to develop the sport in Angola.
