Courtesy: UEFA.com


Italy pip Portugal to final

Thursday 6 February 2014

Italy trailed at half-time but fought their way back and held off a late Portugal recovery to reach Saturday's final.

Portugal 3-4 Italy

by Paul Saffer from Sportpaleis

Italy are through to the UEFA Futsal EURO 2014 final after a pulsating semi-final with Portugal.

The Azzurri had trailed 2-1 at the break but three unanswered goals changed the game before Portugal's late, thrwarted recovery. Italy, who won the 2003 final but lost four years later, meet Russia or Spain on Saturday.

Portugal, who welcomed back Joel Queirós but were still missing Pedro Costa with a thigh injury, had the first chance, a Ricardinho free-kick just wide on eight seconds. The first minute was not even up when Italy won a corner and Saad Assis's kick was turned into the top corner by Gabriel Lima.

Stefano Mammarella pulled off a point-blank double save from the predictably brilliant Ricardinho and Arnaldo Pereira as Portugal responded well. Ricardinho showed patience then a typically superb touch to get past Marco Ercolessi but his shot brushed the post and Leitão, through one-on-one with club-mate Mammarella, shot over.

Leitão poked a loose ball to Ricardinho, who sprinted the length of the pitch but his effort just missed the target; not too long later, though, his left-foot flick deflected in off the back of Fortino. Andjust before the break Arnaldo ran on to a Vampeta defensive header and smashed it first time past Mammarella.

As usual, André Sousa took over from João Benedito in the Portugal goal for the second half, but he was soon picking the ball out of the net as Merlim and Lima's first-time passes set up Sergio Romano to slide the ball in. Mammarella stood tall to Arnaldo after Gonçalo's pass, but he was fortunate to see a close-range Ricardinho effort bounce off a post.

At the other end Massimo De Luca did similar from further out, while Lima tackled Cardinal and broke but was denied by Sousa. Shots and tackles were flying all over the pitch, Sousa tipping over from Saad. And Italy restored their lead when a blocked De Luca shot fell nicely for Lima to lash in.

Portugal were pressing but Fortino smashed in a strike from around 15 metres out to double the lead. Jorge Braz immediately called a time-out, used Ricardinho as flying goalkeeper, and within 15 seconds Joel's deflected shot pulled one back. Pedro Cary and Leitão both hit the outside of the post in a late, desperate Portugal flurry, but they will play for third place.



Courtesy: UEFA.com


Russia in final as Spain reign ends

Thursday 6 February 2014

Russia will face Italy in Saturday's final after Spain's bid for a fifth straight title ended with Robinho's goal late in extra time.

Russia 4-3 Spain (aet)

by Paul Saffer from Sportpaleis

Spain's nine-year reign as European futsal champions is over after Robinho's goal 66 seconds from the end of extra time earned Russia a Saturday final with Italy.

At half-time, Spain were in control and led 1-0 through a Pola goal, but Russia soon levelled and then in a 40-second spell were ahead, pegged back and in the lead again. Just as in the 2012 final between these teams, Spain equalised late, but this time it was Russia that struck in the additional ten minutes.

Already without suspended Pula, Russia were missing the ill Vladislav Shayakhmetov and an energised Spain dominated the early possession, having the first strong chance when Raúl Campos touched on but the lively Lin missed the far post, and he later forced a scrambling save from Gustavo. Spain's Sergio Lozano and Aicardo were playing more defensive roles than usual due to Ortiz's suspension, relieving the burden on José Ruiz, but they were mostly attacking and Fernandão freed up Miguelín to shoot just wide.

Pola broke well but Gustavo narrowed the angle to block, though at the other goal Rafa denied Daniil Kutuzov. Spain were still pressing intensely and Miguelín broke before missing the target, while Sergei Sergeev blocked a shot from Lin after neat work by Fernandão.

Lin was fortunate when he deflected a Kutuzov effort just wide, but Spain had their deserved lead when Aicardo's diagonal ball was rolled backwards by Raúl Campos for Pola to smash in. Eder Lima, the seven-goal leading finals scorer, nearly responded immediately but Rafa saved.

The second half started with Rafa making a superb reaction stop from Aleksandr Fukin, but there was nothing he could do when Nikolai Pereverzev played a corner back deep along the right touchline and Sergeev's diagonal thunderbolt rocketed in. Spain were not knocked off balance but then fell behind as, from close range, Dmitri Lyskov turned in a Robinho corner.

Almost immediately Spain equalised, Rafa Usín advancing from midfield and shooting past Gustavo. Then Russia were ahead for the second time in 40 seconds, Fukin robbing Campos and beating Rafa.

Gustvao tipped a Ruiz shot above the bar while Eder Lima struck high inside the box and Pereverzev was also close. However, Spain are not unbeaten over 40 minutes nine years for a reason, and with two minutes left Miguelín, on as flying keeper, drove in an equaliser.

Rafa's diving save kept out Kutuzov as extra time began, similarly Gustavo denied Aicardo. Miguelín shot wide, but just when it seemed a shoot-out was needed, Eder Lima sent Robinho free and he made no mistake.




Courtesy: UEFA.com


Italy win as a team against Portugal

"To say they were exceptional doesn’t do justice to them," said Roberto Menichelli of his Italy players after the 4-3 comeback semi-final defeat of Portugal, who rued missed chances.

Thursday 6 February 2014

by Paolo Menicucci & Nuno Tavares from Sportpaleis

Roberto Menichelli, Italy coach
I can't find the right words to describe my players after tonight's game. To say they were exceptional doesn't do justice to them, I want to thank them. Today we had a great contribution from a player like Massimo De Luca, who had not appeared in the tournament before. This is our spirit, the squad comes first.

I'm very satisfied with the work we have done in the last couple of years, not only regarding tactics and technique. This squad is earning the love of a growing number of fans, they convince people to come to watch our games with their performances and this is great for Italian futsal. Most of all I'm happy about our consistency, we finished third in the last two big tournaments [UEFA Futsal EURO 2012 and that year's FIFA Futsal World Cup] and now we will have another medal, let's see which one on Saturday.

Portugal are a great side and I'm not saying that because I have to. They have very good players and a great coach. The game today was decided on the touchline. Our reaction after the break is what I liked the most, it was not easy to re-start from 2-1 down after taking an early lead. In the dressing room we reorganised ourselves and we put everything in place in the second half with a great performance by the whole squad. This is among my best days as Italy coach, we have had a few great matches in the last couple of years but this is certainly among them.

Gabriel Lima, Italy captain
Another battle, nothing is easy here, we understood that very clearly after losing the first game in the tournament when we found ourselves facing an uphill struggle. But once again we played with heart, patience and brain and we made it.

[Your best game for Italy?] I think so. I knew I could have done more during the tournament but I think that being the captain gives you a certain responsibility, it takes something out of you in terms of performance. You give everything for the team but you don't manage to play at your very best. I was fully aware of it but tonight I think I did well.

[A united squad the key for Italy’s victory?] I think this is the right analysis of the game. We have a great squad, and if you ask me who is our man of the tournament I could name 14 different players. Today my congratulations go to Massimo [De Luca] who came in without having played a single minute in the tournament and I think he was one of the best players on the pitch. From this I think you can really understand the strength of our team.

We know the semi-finals and third-place play-off all too well. With this squad we had never reached a final but our moment arrived and I think it will continue like this.

Fortino, Italy forward
We knew it was a difficult game but if we play with this approach we can really achieve something big. By sticking together we can go very far and we know it. At the break we did not think about the game against Portugal when we were 3-0 down at the interval [before winning 4-3 in extra time in the FIFA Futsal World Cup quarter-finals two years ago]. We just told ourselves that we had to continue to work hard against a great team.

I'm very happy because we never give up. De Luca had never played before in the tournament and we were talking to him at the hotel explaining that his moment would arrive sooner or later. He was down but finally he came in and gave us a great contribution. This is our real strength.

Jorge Braz, Portugal coach
We managed to be faithful to ourselves, ambitious and organised but perhaps we were a bit too enthusiastic and that led to some mistakes. We should have been more pragmatic. We started the match by conceding a goal but after that we produced enough to turn it around. They made it 3-2 and we had several opportunities to draw but we were unfortunate and fell one more behind. Even after that we never gave up and we made it 4-3, before missing various chances to force at least extra-time.

We failed in small defensive situations but oddly enough we made many more mistakes when we had the ball and were attacking. If you put all that in the balance than it becomes very difficult to win. We were very good at finishing right until this match but today we just couldn’t do it against such a strong team like Italy.

We did not reach the final but it's not the end of the world. I think we took a step forward, we improved ina couple of aspects but the truth is that we want more. All the experiences improve us and this one improved us slightly. Now we had to raise our heads and start to think about the third-place match.

Joel Queirós, Portugal forward
We were not up to our standards at certain moments. Maybe in the first five minutes of the first half they were superior to us and that cost us. They managed to draw level [early in the second half] and perhaps we did not react well to it going 2-2. Even so I think we had countless opportunities against a very powerful Italian team. They defend and attack very well but tonight I think we were much better than them. We showed that we are superior but unfortunately that was not enough.

Our finishing was simply not good and besides that I think we were unlucky on more than one occasion. Our record against Italy [now one win in 18 games] is really just that: statistics. It does not count for nothing and we did not lose because of some kind of stigma against them. Like I said, we proved that, at least at this moment, we are stronger than Italy. These games are always very tight and are normally settled in small details. Tonight those details smiled on Italy.




Courtesy: UEFA.com


b>Robinho leads Russia celebrations after classic

Match winner Robinho, coach Sergei Skorovich and Sergei Sergeev basked in Russia's extra-time semi-final defeat of Spain in what both sides considered one of futsal's greatest games.

Friday 7 February 2014

by Mikhail Malkin & Gonzalo Aguado from Sportpaleis

Sergei Skorovich, Russia coach
Both teams fought until the end. Our opponents prevented us from doing many of the things that we planned to do and there was strong tension throughout the match. You should be especially delighted you beat Spain. We respect them and what they did for European futsal

We have done a lot to get where we are now. It is very nice, but the biggest match of the tournament is on Saturday [in the final against Italy]. We came here to play in the final, we came to win the final.

The scoreboard says everything. We managed to find the key to open Spain. It wasn't about getting revenge, that would be bad. It was definitely very sad to lose against them in the last final. We did a lot of work to become stronger. We have many futsal fans in Russia. I would like to use this chance and thank all of them. We feel their support and we know that we have been followed by our nation. The Winter Olympic Games start tomorrow, but today was the day of futsal.

Robinho, Russia forward
It's a beautiful moment, I'm very happy. We needed this win, we needed to win very, very badly. We have had many matches against Spain, but haven't been able to win. We created many chances today, scored many goals. We fought until the very end. Everything is just great!

No, I'm not a hero. All of us are heroes. [Aleksandr] Fukin, who scored too ... In general, all of us. I just converted my chance. Of course, it is very nice. The whole team are the heroes. It's a victory!

We made a mistake in defence at the end of the second half and they equalised, made it 3-3. We saw that a bit of time was left and decided to wait for extra time. We didn't want to hurry up – it was better to wait and play ten minutes more.

We had the last EURO final against Spain, conceding at the end of normal time. Spain won that European Championship, they have won many EUROs. All the time just Spain, Spain and Spain. It was very important to win tonight. It is a clear highlight in the history of the Russia team.

We fought until the end. Now we need to become champions. Probably, we just played one of the best matches in the history of futsal. We have a great team, everybody knows that. We have been at the top of the game many years, we have played many great matches, but still couldn't win major trophies. We have a great team.

Sergei Sergeev, Russia defender
The fans were happy to watch this match, which consisted of many exciting moments. We will feel heroes ourselves if we win the European Championship. We need to take that last step, which is usually the hardest one. The atmosphere in our dressing room was just incredible. We are very happy. We have met Spain many times, but each time we lacked something small. We have had draws, we have lost in extra time, we have lost on penalties.

We haven't had any kind of 'Spain-phobia', but it's still very nice that we finally managed to beat them. It's very nice to play against them, but if you beat them it brings you double pleasure. I would underline that it's the whole team's success, not of just some individuals.

José Venancio López, Spain coach
Sooner or later a defeat would arrive. It is the first time that Russia have beaten us. That gives it added value after all these years. Imagine how hard it is, so it shows just what we have achieved over the years. We often don't stop to think about that until we lose a game, as was the case tonight.

It was a great game, great for the viewer, you couldn't want any more. I'm also happy because we've seen two teams that have wanted to play good futsal and this enhances our sport. People in the arena and on television have enjoyed a great show. It has been a long time since I saw a match like this one.

The two goals we conceded [at the start of the second half] were so fast. The first was a spectacular goal and you can't do anything about that. I had studied them and knew he would shoot from there, but we didn't expect such a powerful shot from Sergeev. Then they scored the second one on another set piece. That was crucial because from there we lost control. However, we equalised twice. We were close to scoring in extra time and they didn't miss the only chance they had.

Miguelín, Spain forward
In the first half we were all over them like an avalanche and played a pretty perfect match. It is true that in the opening minutes of the second half they were better. As time was going on in the second half we picked up the pace. We didn't win and we leave the arena very sad. We have to lift our heads and fight for third place [against Portugal].

It is true that now, right after the match, you think too much because we were really close to getting to the final. We thought we were going to win, but it was not to be. Now we must be more united than ever and try to get third place.

Rafa, Spain goalkeeper
It is a hard day. When you set yourself a target like winning the European Championship, as this team always does, to fall in the semis is a very big blow. But we've fallen with pride – we've given everything.

We played a great first half; in the second we were not so good. And then in extra time we were good too. Let's congratulate the Russians because they have beaten us, but I don't think they were better than us over 50 minutes.

When we studied the tournament we knew we could play in semis against them and that it would be very hard. They have been playing together for years. They have 12 very complete players. They played a great game and little details were decisive.







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