Courtesy: UEFA.com


Czechs show promise at Grand Prix

Saturday 4 July 2009

The Czech Republic showed useful form ahead of January's 2010 UEFA European Futsal Championship by reaching the semi-finals at the prestigious Grand Prix in Brazil while Ukraine ended sixth, continental finals hosts Hungary came 12th and non-qualifiers Romania took an impressive bronze.

Kopecky hat-trick
Sixteen nations, including three of the 12 European finalists, took part in this week's competition in Anapolis and Goiania. There was a mixed start for the Czech Republic with a 5-5 draw against Mozambique in a game where neither side was ever more than one goal up but they then beat Peru 7-3 with a Marek Kopecky hat-trick to ensure a second-place Group A finish despite losing 7-0 to world champions Brazil.

Ukraine progress
Ukraine ensured they joined the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals from Group D, beating Ecuador 4-0, Dmytro Sorokin striking twice before adding a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw against Venezuela and another goal as his side lost 3-1 to Argentina. Romania, under new coach Sito Rivera after being pipped to the European finals by Ukraine, defeated Costa Rica and Uruguay to reach the last eight.

Hungary slip
However Hungary, despite opening with a 6-2 defeat of Guatemala in which Ákos Harnisch scored three, drew 1-1 with Angola and lost 4-3 t0 Paraguay, despite leading twice, to finish third in Group C. Hungary's campaign continued in classification games, and they defeated Mozambique 3-1 and lost 5-2 to Costa Rica before two last-minute goals left them beaten 3-2 by Peru for eleventh place.

Shoot-out heartbreak
Ukraine faced Iran in the quarter-finals and although Vitaliy Kiselyov put them ahead just before the break, the nine-time Asian champions equalised late on and won 5-3 on penalties. They went on to defeat Paraguay 4-2 after extra time thanks to Kiselyov and Sorokin goals in the second additional five-minute period, but lost 4-3 in a shoot-out to Argentina following a 1-1 draw in the fifth-place play-off, Kiselyov having given Ukraine the lead.

Czechs pipped
There was better quarter-final shoot-out fortune for Europe's other entrants, as the Czech Republic beat Paraguay 4-2 on spot-kicks after a 3-3 draw in which Michal Belej struck twice late on in normal time to overturn a 2-0 deficit, while Romania produced exactly the same scoreline to oust Argentina. In the semi-finals Romania fell 12-0 to Brazil while the Czech Republic and Iran played out a thriller that finished 4-4 after extra time but the Asian champions prevailed 4-1 on penalties.

Romania take bronze
However, Romania showed they will be a force to reckon with when the 2012 European finals come around with a 4-2 victory against the Czech Republic for bronze despite two Lukáš Rešetár goals. The Czech Republic, Ukraine and Hungary can now look forward to the finals draw at the Kölcsey Convention Centre, Debrecen at 16.00CET on 24 September, with the competition running from 19 to 30 January.







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