The San Diego Sockers will not have a small presence at the 3rd Minifootball World Cup.
First, the answer to the question "what is minifootball" is minifootball is like traditional outdoor soccer but played on a pitch a little less than half the size with five or six players instead of 11.
Its field dimensions are similar to those of indoor soccer so folks who excel at that sport are naturals for minifootball ... and that's where the Sockers come in.
The most successful indoor soccer franchise of all time is sending 14 players plus a couple of coaches to Perth, Australia for the 32-country Minifootball World Cup (October 1-11). Representing Team USA are Sockers captain and former Aztec Kraig Chiles, reigning MASL Goalkeeper of the Year Boris Pardo, Brain Farber, Travis Pittman and Taylor Bond. Sockers head coach Phil Salvaggio is America's head coach.
Team Mexico will have even more of a San Diego look. In addition to assistant coach Rene Ortiz serving as El Tri's head coach, eight Sockers made Mexico's roster, led by leading point scorer Brandon Escoto. They'll be joined by Miram "Pollo" Ruiz, Christian Gutierrez, Cesar Cerda, Guerrero Pino, Ray Contreras, Ismael Rojo and Luis "Pee Wee" Ortega.
The final Socker heading to Perth will be Brazilian forward Leonardo del Oliveira.
All the teammates should get to see quite a bit of one another. Brazil is in the same group as the United States, who along with Mexico are among the favorites to win it all.
Local
Mexico went to the final match of the first two Minifootball World Cup tournaments, losing the U.S.A. in 2015 and Czechoslovakia in 2017.
