Courtesy: UEFA.com


Tears for Croatia hero Capar

Wednesday 29 January 2014

"I cried after the game like a baby," Matija Capar told UEFA.com; Croatia's flying keeper secured a 3-3 draw against shell-shocked Spain, and Mato Stanković explained the key tactic.

by Paul Saffer & Gonzalo Aguado from Lotto Arena

Matija Capar, Croatia flying goalkeeper
I feel very good! I cried after the game like a baby because I had two bad injuries two years ago and I didn't think I would play futsal again. Now I scored against Spain, to get a 3-3 draw, all emotions flowed out of me and my team-mates asked me: "What is hurting?" I said: "Nothing! Nothing!" I was very happy.

[When Mato Stanković sent him on as flying goalkeeper] he said just keep the ball for two minutes, don't score, just keep the ball. After I saw the coach and he said: "Go, score a goal." We had a shot, the goalkeeper saved, and I scored the goal. So many things went through my mind when the ball was in the air, an unbelievable feeling.

We have a very good team, we didn't go into the game any different to normal, we went out there to play and what happened would happen. We have [Dario] Marinović, [Tihomir] Novak, [Franko] Jelovčić – we know we can match Spain. We didn't wave the white flag.

Tihomir Novak, Croatia forward
It's a great feeling to get a draw against the best team in Europe. We had a big defeat to them in qualification – I don't know what to say, I am really excited. But if we don't get a result against the Czech Republic we won't go further; we are still on a hard road.

We saw the sort of game we can play. I was a little disappointed because we might even have had a greater result. It is great to do this, but now we must work.

It was a great shot by [Sergio] Lozano [to hit the post in the dying seconds for Spain], I cannot believe he shot from 50 metres. I congratulate him.

Mato Stanković, Croatia coach
Everybody has been saying that the Spanish team are much better than us, but we inside we believed we could do something like this. We came into the match without any fear, of course at certain moments we were very lucky – without luck you can't get a 3-3 draw against Spain. But we played very well.

I told my players, in the first two minutes [with the flying goalkeeper] they were not to try to score, I wanted them to keep the ball for two minutes. Then at one moment I said my flying goalie wants to get a goal, and it happened. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't – but today it happened.

In the last 20 days, we have looked so much at video of Spain's matches against Serbia, Slovenia and Portugal, and we tried to do our best. The problem is we don't have ten players of that standard, but five or six players at that standard, and they were very tired. But today God was with us and we did a very good job. We will rest a little and then we will worry about the Czech Republic.

José Venancio López, Spain coach
It's no surprise. I didn't think we were going to draw but I knew it was going to be an even game. Croatia played a great game. I didn't think they could draw level at the end. In the first half, we weren't good defensively. They hurt us with their pivot. We corrected the situation after the break but we didn't know how to hold on to our 3-2 lead towards the end of the game.

We were looking at the five against four situation [with the flying keeper] yesterday, but we made a mistake tonight in going to apply pressure on them. We didn't know how to control that moment. We have to take our hats off to Croatia; they played very well. They played in a direct way in the first half and they controlled the game at that point. We reworked things after the restart and created them a lot of problems.

It's of course a small setback, but we are still fully confident [in our chances]. On Sunday we will play the crucial game and we will have no margin for error. We are going to correct the mistakes [made tonight] and look to play a great match on Sunday.

Torras, Spain defender
Well, that's how opening games can be. We're competing at a EURO. Although Spain may be considered favourites it doesn't mean that they will get through easily. [Croatia] played their type of game and started very strongly. We never got into our rhythm and played a slow game. They made things easier for themselves with passes through the pivot.

We managed to put a few moves together and created a few chances while looking to find our pattern. We had more possession but they had the chances. We weren't good enough in the first half; we weren't sharp. We managed to equalise but they edged in front again.

The second half was completely different. We moved the ball around quicker while there were also faster moves, with the involvement of the pivots one against the other and more shots on target. We managed all of that without allowing them to hit us on the counterattack like they did in the first half.

We looked to have more of the ball. We went in front playing well but they pulled level using their flying goalkeeper. These things can happen. We tried to win at all costs as the game went on but it just wasn't to be. We had more chances but we didn't convert them.

It could do us some good. What happened tonight will help us to learn. For those who thought that this would be easy, we saw that it wasn't the case. I think this is going to help us.

Raúl Campos, Spain forward
The result has left a bad taste in our mouths. I was really looking forward to making my [EURO] debut and I did so but the result soured the day a little. We have to work hard and correct the mistakes so that this doesn't happen again.

My team-mates told me that in a final tournament, the first game is always the most difficult. We have to make sure this makes us stronger. We must work hard right up until Sunday and then play the game like it is a final. This team always stands up to the challenge in tricky moments and all we are thinking about now is the game against the Czech Republic.



Courtesy: UEFA.com


Slovenia showed 'big heart' against Italy

Slovenia coach Andrej Dobovičnik and scorers Igor Osredkar and Kristjan Čujec put their surprise 3-2 defeat of Italy down to their spirit, as the Azzurri vowed to improve.


Thursday 30 January 2014

by Paul Saffer & Paolo Menicucci from Lotto Arena

Andrej Dobovičnik, Slovenia coach
This is the first time Slovenia has ever won in a final tournament. We were aware from previous matches that it would be very difficult to beat Italy, but it happened at the right time and the players showed their strength on the field.

Both teams prepared well for the match, there were no big surprises. The thing which put Slovenia in a better position was our fighting spirit on the pitch.

We expected that they would do everything possible to beat us. You could see that the players on the pitch were a little bit tired. That is the reason we are even more happy we didn't concede an equaliser.

Of course, we are very happy for our win. This is the first generation that has won and got a point in the European Championship. That was the reason for our celebrations on the bench as well.

Igor Osredkar, Slovenia defender
It was a very tough game, but we have big hearts and this is what we showed on the pitch. We have a high-quality team and now on Friday we will go for a win against Azerbaijan, which will be enough to get to the quarter-finals. But now we must relax and go for the win on Friday.

We have a young team but a lot of experience. We have a great team and great players, and in our last friendly matches we played very well. Today was the same. We have a big heart, the entire Slovenian team, and today we showed that.

I thank the fans that came to Belgium to support our team. It is a great feeling to play in this big hall with a lot of people behind us – I congratulate them all.

Kristjan Čujec, Slovenia forward
It was a really hard game, we knew Italy were a great team. We were highly motivated and we left our hearts on the court. In the end we are really happy about this outcome.

I can't describe the feeling of [Osredkar making it 3-1 near the end from inside his own half]. It was the first time I had seen something like that, I was just really happy we had beaten a big team.

We had our expectations about the game. We wanted to force them to play with a flying goalkeeper and that is what happened. We prepared well, we had watched some DVDs, and that's how we did it.

Roberto Menichelli, Italy coach
Congratulations to Slovenia, first of all. We did not play well in the first half, but we improved in the second, when we also scored the equaliser. Than we conceded the second after losing possession in a dangerous part of the pitch and coming again from behind was difficult. We were playing well with the flying goalkeeper [Gabriel Lima], but Slovenia scored the third.

We were facing a team in great form, as I was always repeating to journalists and players ahead of the game. Some thought I was talking nonsense, but I was right. Today in futsal you have to play at your best against any team otherwise you will have problems. We did not play well, but also because our opponents did not allow us to do so. Slovenia can compete with all the big teams in Europe.

Now we can just focus on preparing well for our next game. We made mistakes, but we had prepared for the game well and our approach was correct. We were very focused and ready, but mistakes can happen. Even the best players make mistakes sometimes. I expect another tough game against Azerbaijan. It will be very balanced, impossible to predict.

Marco Ercolessi, Italy defender
Slovenia played their own game and tried to use their strengths in the best possible way. We did not manage to play like the real Italy – we gave them the chance to punish us and they did. The real Italy were not on the pitch tonight, but now it's over and we have to focus on showing the real Italy in the next game.

Azerbaijan are a good team, but now we don't have to worry about who our opponents are – we have to fight against ourselves and be ready to show who we really are. We have to win and make amends for this bad performance.

Teams are improving, nowadays you cannot worry any more about just three teams. We have never thought about who we were going to face in the next round, because qualifying was the only important thing. Now it's a bit more complicated, but we have to make amends for tonight.







Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com