Samper: I cried when the first World Cup was announced

The announcement came last year, but in some ways, Spain’s Irene Samper still can’t believe it. For the first time ever, there will be a FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup™, set for the Philippines in 2025. This inaugural showpiece has been a long time coming for the stars of women’s futsal, Samper included.

The mere mention of the tournament provokes an even wider smile from the already very gregarious 26-year-old, who plays her club futsal with juggernauts Burela FS in Spain’s north-west region of Galicia. A mainstay in the Spain squads that lifted three different UEFA Futal Women’s EUROs, Samper now has her sights set on a bigger prize in 2025.

Speaking recently with FIFA, the Zaragoza native talked about her journey to becoming one of the top women’s futsal players in the world and which teams she expects to be in the mix at next year’s maiden World Cup.

When you were young, you always played football and futsal much bigger boys. Did that toughen you up?
Irene Samper: Yes, it’s true, and it’s something that I always tell young girls that when they are going to play against boys and if they are feeling afraid: doing it will make them improve. When you play against someone who is bigger both in age and physical stature, you improve a ton and you will notice it. It was really great for me.

How often in your life were you told that, as a female, having a career in futsal wasn’t possible?
It was like that each week in every game that we played. It was very difficult, but in my case I was very lucky because my family always supported me from the very beginning. If you don’t have any support, you’ll probably leave futsal, but I had the full support of my family, which was an incredible motivation to say, ‘I’m going to keep going and try to achieve all my dreams.’

What do you remember from your national team debut at the age of 18 against Russia in 2016?
I think it’s the most nervous I have ever been in my entire life. I was so young and little, and all of my team-mates were older and much more experienced. We were playing against Russia, who are one of the strongest teams out there. Especially at that time, they were one of the best. I felt very nervous but also very fortunate that all of my team-mates and coaching staff helped me to relax. That allowed me to be calm to start the match, and I was able to enjoy it a lot.

You studied primary education while in university. What was that like studying and also playing futsal?
That time in my life instilled in me a lot of positive values. Unfortunately we can’t live alone on futsal, so I made sure I managed my time well in that period because I knew that I couldn’t give up studying. I had to make a lot of sacrifices, like trying to study at night or on trips, including sitting in the hallways of hotels because my room-mate was sleeping and I had to study! There were a lot of sacrifices, which at the time you think to yourself, ‘This is really hard’, but then later it is all worth it.

Were there times when you’d be studying in the hotel hallway and people would be coming in from nightclubs and such?
Yes, there were several times when some people would be coming back from the nightclub, while some others would be on their way out, and they would look at me curiously because there I was with my books studying! (laughs)

You’ve won the EURO three times. Which is the most special for you?
The first one, because it was the first official EURO and I remember the excitement of all the days we spent preparing. It was very special to me to be among the first champions and in addition to winning, we had very good results in all of the matches.

What is it like for you to play alongside your idol Anita Lujan?
It’s an honour. I’ve always admired her. Even before playing with her I watched her on television and admired her, and I was lucky enough to be able to be in the same club with her in Alcorcon. I love her style of play, so I try to do the things that she pulls off in matches. For me she is the best person to be wearing the armband in this national team.

In the last two seasons you have scored 26 and 29 goals respectively. How have you improved your goalscoring?
I felt I could become better if I improved my finishing, so every week I spent more time training on my shooting and trying to improve with both feet. How could I help the team? With goals. It’s always good to help the teams with assists, but when it comes to scoring goals, it’s impossible to help any more than that!

What qualities would you highlight about Emilly’s game?
Emilly is a difference-maker. She is so good in all aspects of play. For me she’s the most complete player in the world at this moment, so being able to train with players like her makes you improve leaps and bounds. I’m very lucky that I’m able to be on the same club team as her. The quality she has is contagious to team-mates.

What do you think of Antia Perez as a player?
Year after year she has made enormous strides and has become a much more complete player. Now she is more offensive and is stronger at defending, so she is improving in so many aspects and her level has improved a lot.

How did you find out about the World Cup?
We were here at home and started to receive messages with the news. At first I didn’t believe it. I thought it was on a fake website! I didn’t think it could be because we had been waiting for so long for this and thought it would never come. To have that news right there was like a dream come true. I was so emotional. I was crying because we had been fighting so many years for our moment, as much for ourselves as for the players who are now retired. It was the best thing that could have happened to us because that competition is going to be like something from another planet. I think with this World Cup we’ll take a big step forward in so many aspects, especially visibility, because the whole world will be watching and seeing that there is a Women’s Futsal World Cup and I think we’ll get more people watching us and following us.

Can Spain win this inaugural World Cup?
Yes. We know the opponents and the demands that the World Cup will have, the quality that it will have. The positive side is that all of the national teams are improving a lot, so that will make this a very competitive World Cup. Our objective is to win it, so we will need to work very hard and go step by step.

What do you think of Portugal?
Portugal are a team that have players who know each other very well. Their core has been together now for a long time. Apart from having very good offensive players like Janice Silva, Ines Fernandes has a lot of experience, Fifo as well. They have a lot of big-name players with a lot of experience, and that makes games against them very tough.

And Brazil?
Brazil are unlike other teams. Other teams have one or two players who stand out, but everyone stands out for Brazil. For me they are the team with the most quality in regards to players. It’s so hard playing against them because they are so creative, they do things that you don’t expect, or that we’re not accustomed to seeing in Spain. But I would also say that Brazil is our favourite match to play.

You seem to be a lover of all things Brazilian: beauty, music, food, football and even Flamengo. What is it about Brazil that you like so much?
What I love about Brazil is their lifestyle. They are very happy people, they value any small thing that they have. On top of the culture, the food, they have beautiful landscapes and each summer I’ve been able to get to know better each part of the country. Obviously it’s a very big country, but I’ve loved everything I’ve seen, especially the beaches.