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MY BEACH SOCCER 
Bruno Malias analyses the key role of the three Brazilian players witin the Hungarian team
Brazilian beach soccer players Barbara Colodetti (2), Leticia Villar (9) and Noele Bastos (5) jumped on a joint adventure early in May, flying to an unknown country, Hungary, where they speak a different language, and where they would be more than 10.000 kilometers apart from their family. They were joining Astra HFC club, and they were going to do something that made all that worth the effort: play beach soccer.
Someone was in Budapest waiting for them, though, someone that knows them very well and who has played a key part in their beach soccer growth: Bruno Malias, relevant part of the Magyar Football Association coaching staff and also coach of Astra HFC. He has steered most of their career and he insisted for them to come to Hungary and take part in the most competitive Women’s beach soccer event in the World, the Euro Winners Cup, because he knew how good was for them to do that.
He perfectly knows about their potential, as they come from a club, Rio Branco Beach Soccer, Bruno Malias himself has helped raise as well, and his support, together with other stars such as Bruno Xavier, has been absolutely decisive for them to fly to the Old continent.
“When playing in Europe, they are achieving many things: they are growing as athletes, as beach soccer players, and they are helping others, both team mates and opponents, grow as well”, he admits, at the time he highlights that they have a lot to offer: “They are used to playing on the sand, and have excellent foundations, both at a technical and at a physical level.”
Apart from what they give on the pitch, “the best thing they do is how they act off it”, Malias explains. “They are awesome in getting the group together, in making the atmosphere happier, more pleasant, and in making the group tighter, stronger. And they do it naturally, because it is in their DNA…”
As a beach soccer literate, Bruno Malias also understands that living abroad is no easy task, but he has full confidence that their professionalism is even beyond that: “I am sure that they do feel home sickness at some point. But these girls have a very strong mentality, and they perfectly how to manage that.”
“They play beach soccer because they love it. It is an absolute passion, and they even take the time out of anywhere to train every day, at 6 am, whenever. Noele is a teacher, Barbara is an architect, and Leticia is still at the university. They have their own careers, and if they play beach soccer is because they love it”. Apart from that, they have a very straightforward mentality, he reckons: “They are really nice girls, good people, and they come from very nice families. They are just the kind of people you want to work with”.
Only some minutes where needed to see all that coming together on the pitch, seeing Barbara, Noelia and Leticia pushing the team forward, helping anywhere they could, smiling at their teammates all the time, supporting them, and trying to transmit what the coach wanted them to.
Results may have not worked as expected for Astra in this past Euro Winners Cup, but, being such a young and unexperienced team, the lessons learn in this past competition, and the growth they all experienced both collectively and individually, is out of any doubt. And these three girls coming all the way from Brazil have played a relevant role in that.
