Courtesy: UEFA.com


Cardinal double takes Portugal past Ukraine

Monday 3 February 2014

A goal early in each half from Cardinal, who came into the finals off a long injury and without a club, sent Portugal into Thursday's semis.

Ukraine 1-2 Portugal

by Paul Saffer from Sportpaleis

Cardinal, who came into UEFA Futsal EURO 2014 having not played a competitive game since June and without a club, struck early in each half to take Portugal into Thursday's semi-finals.

His first goal was cancelled out by Yevgen Valenko but Ukraine had no answer to Cardinal's second, made by Ricardinho, who put on yet another superb display. Portugal face Italy or Croatia on Thursday as they aim to reach their second final after 2010.

Ukraine, missing the suspended Oleksandr Sorokin, gave Portugal an early scare when Denys Ovsyannikov's pass was met with a clever flick by Yevgen Rogachov that João Benedito just about kept out. At the other end Dmytro Lytvynenko was Ukraine's third different starting keeper of the finals but while his colleagues had not conceded a group goal, he was beaten in the third minute.

Arnaldo Pereira played a subtle pass at the end of a solo run and the ball was turned in after some neat footwork by Cardinal, his job as pivot even more important in the absence of Joel Queirós, like Pedro Costa out injured. Portugal, orchestrated as ever by Ricardinho, were having most of the play but Ukraine did break at speed and Rogachov again stung Benedito's palms. Cardinal also shot over after an outrageous pitch-long pass by Ricardinho.

The equaliser came with just under eight minutes left in the half. Ricardinho tackled Petro Shoturma, but Valenko smashed in the loose ball. Portugal, with the loudest fans of any team left in Antwerp, were kept at bay until the break.

As usual, Portugal changed their goalkeeper at the interval with André Sousa coming on. Lytvynenko denied Cardinal but not long after Cardinal did beat the goalkeeper to his right with a low shot after a Ricardinho kick-in.

Lytvynenko made a vital saving tackle on Leitão and got his foot to a Ricardinho volley. Sousa made a fine save from Vitaliy Kiselyov while at the other end Ricardo Fernandes had a shot blocked by a defender as Portugal held on, despite Denys Ovsyannikov coming on as flying goalkeeper.





Courtesy: UEFA.com


Rampant Russia see off Romania challenge

Monday 3 February 2014

Russia cruised through to the semi-finals, with three more Eder Lima goals taking his tournament-leading tally to seven.

Romania 0-6 Russia

by Paul Saffer from Sportpaleis

Russia produced their third fine attacking performance of UEFA Futsal EURO 2014 to earn a semi-final place.

Romania lost 2-1 to Russia in qualifying in March but this was a more convincing scoreline. Eder Lima scored three to take his competition-leading tally to seven goals, in a Russian total so far of 17, and on Thursday they will play Spain or Slovenia.

Eder Lima hit the post early on, while at the other end Gustavo stopped Marian Șotărcă's effort after a long thrown clearance from Vlad Iancu. However, the Romania goalkeeper could do nothing about Robinho's long-range drive that broke the deadlock in the third minute.

Emil Răducu, whose team-mate Ion Al-Ioani was out injured, nearly turned a header into his own net, but cleared off the line himself with an overhead kick. It was soon 2-0, though Vladislav Shayakhmetov advancing, exchanging passes with Cirilo, then lashing the ball in. Shayakhmetov then turned provider, his shot parried by Iancu for Eder Lima to tap in.

Andrei Grigoraş now replaced Iancu while Răducu had a shot saved by Gustavo. Russia, barely missing the suspended Pula, threatened again when Sergei Sergeev's thunderbolt hammered the frame of goal, and Dmitri Lyskov too hit the woodwork. Soon Grigoraş was beaten, chipped by Eder Lima after he robbed Cosmin Gherman in midfield.

Romania captain Robert Lupu donned the flying goalkeeper's shirt for the second half, though Grigoraş was back in to deny Eder Lima from point-blank range. With the extra outfield player giving Romania more possession, Gustavo was being made to work more than before the interval, though Sergei Abramov put the ball past the post and Grigoraş dived to stop Eder Lima's back-heel.

The fifth goal did arrive, though, from Sergeev following Lyskov's cross while on the break Eder Lima missed an empty net and chipped over. He was not to be denied a hat-trick after Romania lost the ball in defence. Romania, as in their previous finals appearances of 2007 and 2012, are out in the last eight.




Courtesy: UEFA.com


Portugal do their job as Ukraine feel hurt

"Pragmatic" was the word Portugal coach Jorge Braz used to sum up the 2-1 quarter-final defeat of Ukraine that delighted Ricardinho but left Yevgen Ryvkin feeling empty.

Monday 3 February 2014

by Nuno Tavares & Mikhail Malkin from Sportpaleis

Jorge Braz, Portugal coach
I feel huge satisfaction and pride in having this team among the best four in Europe. This involves a lot of work and sacrifice from everyone. We have been a very pragmatic team in this tournament, the sort of team you need to be at a European Championship. We set an objective and we met it, simple as that.

We were a bit shaky in the first half and the quality of our game was not always the one needed at this level, but we compensated for that with an impressive mentality.

We realised that we had to have more quality in the second half and we raised the intensity of our game. When that happens we normally win and that was once again the case. If we look at what happened for the entire 40 minutes, I truly believe we deserved to qualify for the semi-finals. Like I have said on more than one occasion, I'm only worried about my team; I'm really not that interested whether we face Italy or Croatia. We'll play to win, that's for sure.

Ricardinho, Portugal forward
Before anything else I have to say: we've done it! We started the tournament with the objective of advancing from the group stage and we did just that. After that we told ourselves we wanted more than the quarter-finals and that is also guaranteed. Concerning the game itself, we knew it would be very difficult, but the eastern European teams are just like that: they are ruthless and they fight right until the last second. Fortunately Portugal also had a great game.

We helped each other out there, although in the first half that was not always the case because we were playing with a big distance between each player. That is not good in futsal. In the second half we managed to get it right and were able, once again, to give cause to celebrate to these amazing fans who never stopped supporting us. When you arrive at this stage you can't pick who you are going to face so it doesn't really matter if we play Italy or Croatia. We will play to win and that's what's important.

Pedro Cary, Portugal defender
It was as difficult as we expected. We had to show a lot of respect towards a Ukraine team who play a very difficult game to face. Their game may not be attractive to a lot of people but the truth is they are very effective and hard to deal with. It wasn't a beautiful game to watch but one where both teams showed a lot of respect for the other.

Cardinal is a lethal scorer and he was decisive for us tonight, but all the players deserve high praise for what they did. Maybe we haven't yet managed to show all the good things we do in practice but I'm sure that will happen at the right moment, starting with the semi-finals.

Yevgen Ryvkin, Ukraine coach
[The feeling is] total emptiness. Unfortunately we are going home. Portugal have top quality players and their disposal and it was tough playing them, but still we tried to compete against them and sometimes even managed to impose our game. I would also like to thank Ukraine's players. Well done. They did their best. They can go home with their heads held high.

There is no escaping the mistakes we made, and it was a kind of match when a singe error can decide everything. It was probably the case when, like they say, a win is for team and a loss if for the coach. Unfortunately, we did not perform when we had the flying goalkeeper. As a result we found ourselves unable to use our usual links and play we have worked on in training. One player was suspended, another one got injured during the match. Instead of sound, crisp passing play we tried to take them by storm unfortunately. We have to work on that.

Denys Ovsyannikov, Ukraine forward
There would have been positive emotions had we, and myself in particular, scored one more goal and at least made it a draw. But since we lost the game we have no other emotions but negative ones. Individual skill decided the outcome, especially that of Cardinal. They did not outplay us, we lost it just in the individual skills. Though I would say that it was our best game in the tournament.

We did not fulfil our task because we wanted to progress to the semi-finals. But what's the point in crying? Life goes on. The most important is that I hope we presented a good match to our fans for who we play. Playing at the European Championship itself is a gift that not everyone can boast of.



Courtesy: UEFA.com


Russia enjoy their clean sweep

Vladislav Shayakhmetov, Eder Lima – who explained an unusual celebration – and Sergei Skorovich enjoyed Russia's 6-0 defeat of a Romania side optimistic for the future.

Monday 3 February 2014

by Mikhail Malkin & Paul Saffer from Sportpaleis

Vladislav Shayakhmetov, Russia forward
We do have some weaknesses, but today we played well in defence and converted our chances. We scored three early goals and forced Romania to open up. The semi-final and the last part of EURO will show what to expect from us. All of our players try to do their work well and everything turned out to be lucky for us today. We did this ourselves.

There weren't any moments [when it seemed Romania were too weak to be in the quarter-finals]. There are no weak teams in the quarter-finals. It doesn't matter what the scoreline was, if we had won by a few or by many goals. Romania proved themselves a good team. They showed their ability in the group stage, they did it today from time to time, but we had the luck.

We have deeply analysed our opponents, we have watched their matches many times. We have been preparing very well and we were the better side this time. It's a double pleasure that we haven't conceded, a big bonus. Of course, it's great to score goals. Everyone is happy if can see his name on the scoreboard.

Eder Lima, Russia forward
We move on, step by step. Now we can think about which team we will play in the semi-finals, Spain or Slovenia. Romania didn't have any chances to win. It doesn't matter how many goals I score in the finals. The most important thing to win the EURO finals. I just want to be a champion.

[On his unsual celebration for the first goal] A Brazilian friend of mine told me that he wouldn't go to work today and he would watch our match. We asked me to send him greetings if I scored. He is a street cleaner, he sweeps streets. And that is what I did after scoring one of my goals. I pretended to sweep a street with a smile on my face.

Sergei Skorovich, Russia coach
We were very confident and played a good match, that's why we won by such a scoreline. The lads worked well to avoid the mistakes we made in the [4-4 draw] against Portugal. We played a very disciplined game, but I wouldn't say that it was ideal futsal. All teams make mistakes, but those who do this less win.

We have began the match very confidently and started to score goals. Romania tried to do something about this, but we didn't give them any chances. We were not looking to frighten our potential opponents. We just do what we need to do and don't begin to think what other teams think of us.

Nelu Stancea, Romania coach
It was an interesting game. We made many mistakes, which gave away too many goals. We have to be more aggressive in our play, more confident in ourselves and then I think it would be a different game. We have learned many, many things from this championship. We will take the good things and look to correct the bad things.

I feel good [about having been head coach since just before the play-offs in September when Sito Rivera resigned] because I have been together with the team for about ten years as assistant coach. I know the players very well, they are very good players and they have another few years left to play. We hope to qualify for UEFA Futsal EURO 2016 and the [FIFA Futsal] World Cup.

László Szőcs, Romania forward
I think we can play much better. We conceded the first goal very quickly, but I am a younger player and I hope in the future to play much better. I think we performed very well in the finals. We achieved our objective, which is very important for us. We hope to do even more in the next EUROs.

We look forward to each tournament, we are optimistic. We are a young team – we only started our team ten years ago and we have already been to three European Championships. We are now moving forward with Stancea, he knows us very well, and we trust his judgement.







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