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MY BEACH SOCCER 
Several Hungarian players took part in the development programme with Rio Branco Beach Soccer.
The player exchange project between the Hungarian Football Federation (HFF) and Rio Branco Beach Soccer as a part of the Hungarian Beach Soccer Development Program took place for the second time recently, with continued positive results.
Five Hungarian National Team players underwent a 17-day excursion with physical, technical, tactical training as well as challenging games.
Rio Branco, one of the main forces within Brazilian beach soccer, boast a professional structure, which aided the preparation of the players of the Hungarian Beach Soccer Team.
The athletes to take part in the exchange were: Tamás Szentes-Biró (21), Richárd Patócs (20), Rutai Balázs (19), Norbert Iváncsik (19) and Zoltán Menyhei (22).
In Vitória, they took part in four matches against Brazilian teams wearing the Rio Branco jersey, with the first match resulting in a victory over Fit Soccer on penalties. Following that, there was a 6-2 win over Aracruz and an 8-5 success against Rio Novo do Sul before the first defeat – a 5-4 loss to Aracruz.
For Bruno Malias, Beach Soccer Technical Instructor at the HFF, as well as manager of Rio Branco, the importance of this type of exchange for all involved is immense.
In particular, this comes in relation to foreign players gaining invaluable experience when it comes to learning the Brazilian way of playing beach soccer, specifically methodology, game models and training processes.
Malias, four-time FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup champion, said: “This is the second year hosting Hungarian Beach Soccer players. This exchange and other planed actions will help the Hungarian Beach Soccer Team to achieve good results in the near future.”
Two players in the exchange have already worked with the current Rio Branco Beach Soccer coach, Alex Fabiano, who added: ” I saw these talented young players last year in Hungarian Championship, in Siofok.
“Tamás and Balázs played on the team I was coach for in Hungary in 2016 – Junior Szeged. Tamás is a player of great technical quality, intelligent, as well as being the captain of the team. Balázs was voted the best player of the Hungarian national championship at the age of 17. With this, we see the strength and potential that these young talents have.”
For the great mentor of the project, the Head of Beach Soccer at the HFF, Izsvák Zsolt, this continues to prove a great opportunity for the Hungarian players.
“The idea is to provide the maximum possible gaming knowledge, always in high performance, and in Brazil, where beach soccer was born, all these possibilities are found in Vitória, with the Rio Branco structure,” he said.
