EPTBrowsing some of the other teams we estimated that their general level of play wasn't necessarily that high, and there were a couple of teams with mainly girls that didn't seem like much opposition (though there were some serious teams too), so we asked to switch leagues but we were told it would conflict with the schedule which was already printed and planned, so altogether it wasn't practical.
Some brief notes on my team: four out of seven are exchange students and six of them look foreign. Some of them are quite colorful characters and prone to loudly exclaiming things in Portuguese and they also have, in aggregate, beards, ear rings, tattoos and long hair. I myself am the only boring one.
In any case, among the other teams and supporters there was a general impression of our team as a group of Spanish-ish players to prove as a sort of spoil sport for the recreational players. We were subjected to the constant joke that we had to be disqualified because we didn't have a girl in our team. I got the general feeling that we weren't popular: cheers erupted whenever we gave away a goal and nobody would clap for one of our goals even if it was particularly well done.
We had the impression too that the refereeing was partisan. I made a foul in the middle of the field that the referee rewarded with a penalty, even if honestly I barely touched her and it seemed like a creative interpretation of the rules. In another match someone would get a handball and we complained about it but it was ignored. There was a foul against one of our players, so some were distracted by notifying the referee and were unable to stop the other team from scoring, securing a draw. Most bizarrely of all they literally let the little sister of a player of one of the teams constantly mess with the scoreboard so that we had to monitor missing goals and wrong results.
After some difficulty we did manage to win the pool and were waiting to play the final vs the second place team. However, unbeknownst to us the third and fourth place had lobbied for a full play-off with four teams and so in the middle of the tournament installed this new rule without even asking our team if we were okay with this.
I can't really explain all of this other than that people like to root for teams with female players. One of the all-girls teams was quite good honestly, they were clearly experienced futsal players and I heard they had some players from the national and regional female futsal competition. They came with support and probably couldn't stand placing fourth and so had the rules changed to favor them. We had to play them in the semi-finals after drawing them in the pool game, where we were honestly too confused about the existence of good female futsal players to put up much of a fight.
Often playing vs female players isn't that fun, because there is no honor in winning and only embarrassment in defeat. I can't estimate their level, which is essential for decision making in football. I literally don't know what to do because there is a constant voice in the back of my head saying: don't play seriously because they're girls, don't play physically because .. etc. And to be sure that seems sexist but if you had my experience with more or less weak female futsal players you would develop similar patterns. I for one wasn't comfortable playing vs a very strong and well organized team of female players.
We started with the chauvinistic attitude of considering ourselves physically and technically superior. And sure, we did not have discipline, and some of us were drunk while others were high, but why play in an organized fashion when you can show off and flirt with the opposing team while playing? Suffice to say it did not go well and the draw was a fair result. Later on we had to play them in the semi-finals and with a different mindset did crush them 5-0, after which we won the finals vs the second place team who had won their semi-final, so the rule change ended up immaterial and balance was restored.
So the whole day wasn't too fun, but it's interesting to play in a tournament. To be honest competition wrecks my nerves because I can't be anything other than 100% serious and in time this becomes draining. But winning is fun. ^_^
Thank goodness that rule didn't last, it completely destroyed the way the game was played.
