We all know the feeling: your 5-a-side team is crushing it again in your local league. The lads are playing with style, panache, guile. If Dunphy and Giles were watching, they'd say you're not a good 5-a-side team, you're a great 5-a-side team. The only problem is this: the tiny island of Ireland is not big enough for your 5-a-side ambitions. The international stage beckons.
We've got a truly amazing competition for you: Red Bull's Neymar Jr's Five. The Neymar Jr's Five is essentially the people's World Cup: an international 5-a-side tournament with teams from over 50 countries on six continents competing for national trophies. The winners from each country will then travel to Brazil to compete to be the best 5-a-side team in the world and meet Barcelona and Brazil genius Neymar Jr.
Qualifying rounds are taking place all over Ireland in the coming weeks. What makes the Neymar Jr's Five truly unique are its rules. Highlights include:
- If you score a goal, the other team loses a player
- All games are 10 minutes long
- The game ends after 10 minutes or if the other team has no more players left
- Players must be between 16-25 (no gender restrictions) though each team can field 2 people aged 25+.
You can read the entire rulebook here.
The Irish qualifier dates are below. Register your team here. You might even come up against the Balls.ie 5-a-side team.
Register your team today, and who knows, you could be heading for Brazil.
You've never been so close to true football glory.
