Jó: The maverick technician

Jó is a player with this quality. The Angola star showcased his talent to the world at the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2024™, and although his team was eliminated in the group stages, Jó proved he could compete with the world’s elite with several standout performances, including a hat-trick against eventual runners-up Argentina. This article breaks down Jó’s unpredictable playing style to reveal the specific skills that make him a talisman of his national team and threatening in all phases of the game. His ability to break the press, eliminate opponents during 1v1s and execute an audacious “ghost pass” are the three aspects of his game looked at in closer detail. First, to get a feel for Jó’s ingenuity, see the montage of him in action below.

Jó is both composed and bold under pressure. These two traits are most evident when he is pressed by opposition using a player-to-player marking system. During these moments, players on the ball under pressure typically opt to relieve any threat by passing to their goalkeeper, team-mate or kicking the ball out of play to mitigate risk. Jó’s mindset is different. He recognises the player-to-player marking system as an opportunity to escape pressure with his technical skill and speed; the opposition’s shape is easily disjointed by runs of Jó’s team-mates, creating more space for the Angola no. 10 to drive into after beating his marker.

Scenarios where Jó has his back to the opposition’s goal best illustrate his poise under pressure: his change of speed to spin and roll the oncoming player, combined with his pace on the ball to drive immediately forward, allow him to remove his opponent from the game and turn an evenly matched situation (4v4 or 3v3) into a numerical advantage in Angola’s favour (4v3 or 3v2). Jó’s team-mates are aware of his ability and composure, and at times, adopt attacking positions during these situations in complete faith that their no. 10 can win his duel and launch an attack.

Whereas some players have a trademark skill or movement to beat a defender in a 1v1 (such as Dyego, who we explored in the first article of this series), Jó has a variety of different skills that allow him to bypass his opponent. These moves include stepovers, body feints and ghost passes, which are all complimented by his expert ability to manipulate the ball with the soles of both feet. Combined, they give the Angola player multiple solutions to 1v1 situations, bringing an unrelenting level of unpredictability to his game across the court. During moments of Angola possession when he is without the ball, Jó uses feints to beat his marker and create space.

Jó’s ghost pass best embodies his creativity and uniqueness as a player. This audacious move is when the Angola no. 10 tricks the defender into thinking he’s playing a give-and-go with a team-mate. In one motion, Jó plays the pass and feints in the other direction, as if he’s running to receive (give-and-go/wall pass) again – but instead of playing a fully-weighted ball, he performs a deft touch, which he quickly changes direction to follow and regather. The defender retreats as if Jó is making his run without the ball, but by the time they realise, Jó has picked up the ball again and is bypassing them on their blind side. In sum, the objective of Jó’s ghost pass is to shift the body weight and orientation of the defender so they are unable to react to his movement.

Defenders can use the following tips to help prevent being beaten by players like Jó in 1v1 situations:

• Use your arms: the attacker always has the advantage of making the first move. This allows them to have a head start on whatever action they choose to take. Using your arms to either unbalance them when on the ball or just after making a pass is a strong choice for negating their threat.

• Defend with more cover: the advantage of adopting a more zonal organisation over the player-to-player equivalent is that it allows a defending team to maintain their defensive structure, since defenders can pass attackers on when needed. Plus, if an attacker beats their defender 1v1, then there is better support from the second line providing cover.

• Commit the foul: sometimes, if there’s no alternative, it might be necessary to commit a tactical foul. Maverick players thrive in fluid gameplay, and ruining their rhythm disrupts that. However, don’t use this solution if your team has already registered fouls on the board or if you are on a yellow card.

The clips below consist of several moments from the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2024 where defenders managed to prevent Jó from progressing forward.