Courtesy: UEFA.com


Goals come high on Dlouhy's Czech list

Wednesday 20 January 2010

by Jim Wirth from Budapest

Martín Dlouhy's goals took the Czech Republic to the finals of the UEFA European Futsal Championship, and the team captain has set himself a target of "at least a goal a game" as his side bid for a last-eight place.

Personal best
Needing a win in their final qualifying game against Croatia in Ostrava, Dlouhy struck twice in the dying seconds to propel Tomas Neumann's men back into Europe's top national-team competition for the fifth edition running. While the 34-year-old, who has featured in all those final tournaments, has been happy to shoulder the responsibility of the team captaincy, he has not lost any hunger for individual glory, telling uefa.com he had set himself a goalscoring target of "at least a goal a game" ahead of their Group A opener against Azerbaijan on Thursday.

Czech soul
As he made jokes and kept the chatter going during the Czechs' pre-tournament photo session, it was evident that Dlouhy was the soul of the team and a natural leader. "I am the only player left from the previous generation," he said of his role as in-house cheerleader. "All the other players are really young and it is a brand new thing for them to be here, but they are getting more and more experienced. It is a responsibility but it is not so heavy."

All-action captain
For the all-action Dlouhy, his nation's most-capped player and top scorer, the magic of futsal is that it is football with all the slow bits taken out. "Because it is played on a smaller pitch it is faster and more dynamic; you need more technique during the play than football," he explained. "The movement is very different because in football you need to make long runs and sprints but in futsal dribbling is more important. And of course there are more goals."

Fresh wound
Afforded the luxury of watching their upcoming opponents Azerbaijan beat hosts Hungary 3-1 on opening night, Dlouhy is itching for action, knowing also that Alecio's Azeris have unfinished business when it comes to the Czechs. Dlouhý was among the scorers as his side came from behind to beat Azerbaijan 3-2 on their way to the 2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup, and said: "We beat them in the last qualification. Now they have more Brazilian players and they will want to take revenge."



Courtesy: UEFA.com


Czechs fear transformed Azerbaijan

Wednesday 20 January 2010

Match preview by Jim Wirth from Budapest

The Czech Republic have won all three of their previous games against Azerbaijan, but as the sides meet again in Budapest, coach Tomas Neumann fears a wind of change may be blowing through Group A.

Narrowing gap
In 1995, in qualifying for the UEFA European Futsal Tournament that preceded the modern Championship, the Czech Republic beat Azerbaijan 10-2, but the gap between the sides closed in subsequent fixtures. In qualifying for the 2000 FIFA Futsal World Cup, the score was 8-4. In the 2008 edition of that tournament, it was just 3-2.

Turning tide
Since then, persistent injuries have meant the Czechs can no longer call on their one-time team leaders, brothers Michal and Roman Mares, while the Azerbaijani ranks have been swelled by a flood of Brazilian-born talent, aiding them to a 3-1 win against hosts Hungary on Tuesday on their finals debut, leaving them a point away from the quarter-finals. Neumann feels the tables have turned entirely, telling uefa.com: "The favourites are Azerbaijan because they have so many Brazilians."

'Young squad'
The 39-year-old coach added of Alecio's side: "I have seen a lot of their matches on DVD; they have five Brazilian players and a few more born in Russia. For us, they are a very good team. We have a young squad. We have had to leave the Mares brothers at home, but I hope that we have a solid unit. I guess we will have to see."

Arch tormentors
Getting off to a good start against such opposition will be no picnic, as the Czechs learned from watching Biro Jade and Thiago torment Hungary in their opening-night win against the hosts. Alecio, however, warned ominously: "Biro Jade and Thiago are great, but so are my other players. It's not about individuals. My best player is the team."

Club parallels
The Brazilian coach felt there were parallels with the two teams, formed as they are around club sides; Araz Naxçivan for Azerbaijan and FC Era-Pack Chřudím for the Czech Republic. That, however, was of little concern for 42-year-old Azerbaijani keeper Andrey Tveryankin, who was between the posts for the national sides' last meeting in Chrudim.

'A jolly good team'
"They're a jolly good team," said the chatty shot-stopper. "The Czechs have good battling qualities, so I don't think they'll just roll over." Promising no repeat of his side's subdued second-half performance against the hosts, the tournament's oldest player added: "The Czechs are stronger than Hungary, but we will be stronger next time too."




Courtesy: UEFA.com


Levus proud to lead Belarus

Wednesday 20 January 2010

by Oleg Sokol from Debrecen

Vladimir Levus took part in Belarus's first competitive futsal international, a 3-2 loss to Slovenia in Spain on 23 October 1995 in qualification for UEFA's inaugural European tournament in the sport. And after nearly 15 years' waiting, on Wednesday Levus and Belarus make their debut in a major final tournament.

Spain challenge
Their opponents in UEFA European Futsal Championship Group D in Debrecen could not be more exalted – titleholders Spain, with Portugal to come on Friday. But the 37-year-old Levus, whose leadership role has become even more important in the absence of Vadim Lushkovski and Aleksei Gurin, is up for the challenge.

Wait over
"It feels great to be here in Debrecen for the final stage of the tournament," the FC Mapid Minsk striker said. "We've been trying to achieve this success for 15 years and now finally we have reached our goal. Obviously, we have a very difficult group, but we really want to show our best and give our opponents a good fight."

Experienced players
Indeed, Belarus coach Valeri Dosko told uefa.com that his players were not scared of the two-time world champions and Levus confirmed that sentiment. "We are not afraid, as we have enough experienced players," he said. "In the past we have played against very tough opponents. In particular I think we played very well against Italy and Russia."

Leading scorer
Levus is his nation's all-time leading scorer with 39 international goals, and in 2008 claimed a record eleven in a single league match. He may not quite match that feat against Spain's celebrated goalkeeper Luis Amado but Levus is determined that Belarus will leave their mark on the finals. "We are here to show our best qualities," he said. "If we manage to do that and with good fortune on our side, we can qualify from the group. We are going to give our best effort and let's see what happens next."




Courtesy: UEFA.com


Mystery men reveal their true worth

Tuesday 19 January 2010

by Pavle Gognidze from Budapest

A 3-1 win against UEFA European Futsal Championship hosts Hungary has led to Azerbaijan emerging as surprise contenders for the title, with goalkeeper Andrey Tveryankin joking: "We're a mystery team for many Azerbaijanis as well!"

Confident victory
Biro Jade scored inside the first minute for Azerbaijan, and while Tamás Lódi levelled soon afterwards, Hungary could find no way past Tveryankin – who at 42 is the oldest player at the finals − with further strikes from Serjão and Alves killing off the game. Alecio's side, dominated by Brazilian-born talent, now have one foot in the quarter-finals following the Group A opener, something few might have expected given their previous record.

Title ambitions
"We're a mystery team for many Azerbaijanis as well!" the cheery Tveryankin told uefa.com, adding: "Nobody expected an easy game, of course. There are a lot of guys on our team who are talking about the semi-final or even the winning the trophy, but I say we take it step by step. We need to get out of the group first, then go on and on."

Momentum lost
With Biro Jade and Thiago pulling the strings, Alecio's charges dominated the first half, though Tveryankin admitted his side had taken their foot off the gas after going in at the interval 3-1 up, forcing him to make crucial saves on several occasions. "We played with our backs to wall, but we didn't let them do anything," he said in mitigation.

Never idle
The crop-headed custodian certainly played his part in a hard-fought victory, saying with a smile "they don't leave me with nothing to do in this team. They keep me interested so that I will keep playing for them!" He added: "The only shame is that we couldn't score on the counter and build up a bigger lead so that the ending would have been less nervy."

Early setback
Hungary coach Mihály Kozma felt that his players never quite recovered from conceding so early on, and forward Zsolt Gyurcsányi – whose free-kick set up Lódi's strike – explained: "We made a lot of mistakes especially close to the goal. We had the chances but we lacked the killer touch, and our pace was not quick enough."

Superb crowd
That being said, playing in front of a fabulous, partisan crowd at the Papp Lászlo Arena can only encourage them ahead of Saturday's must-win Group A game against the Czech Republic. "The last time we witnessed a kind of futsal atmosphere was when we were in Brazil," he said. "We've never played a game with such [a big] attendance before in Hungary."



Courtesy: UEFA.com



Azzurri win the stuff of coach's dreams

Tuesday 19 January 2010

by Paul Saffer, Francesco Corda & David Baño from Debrecen

Italy coach Roberto Menichelli says their opening 4-0 win against Belgium "was the start I dreamed about", leaving opposite number Benny Meurs bemoaning his side's lack of concentration and experience.

'Very happy'
The Azzurri led the UEFA European Futsal Championship Group B curtain-raiser early on through Saad Assis. Belgium responded well and had their share of chances but Assis scored again not long after the break and Luca Ippoliti's penalty and Clayton Baptistella's late strike settled matters. "I'm very happy, it's the start I dreamed about," Menichelli said. "As in all opening games there were difficulties, Belgium are a good team and many of my players are in their first European Championship. We must remember the injuries that hit us, among other things Vinicius Bácaro [with a knee problem] only played thanks to the doctors."

Perfect combination
Baptistella, who made the opening goal for Assis, repeated the trick to make it 2-0 before scoring himself. He told uefa.com: "My role is to provide assists, my finals debut was positive because I made two and I also succeeded in scoring. Saad and me have a perfect understanding, the way we scored the first goal, we did it in Lithuania in qualification and we repeated it today. It was a wonderful goal."

Chances missed
Belgium were playing their first finals game since 2003, and Meurs looked back at the moments that undid his team. "The difference was in concentration, in making the right decisions at the right moment, Italy were much stronger than we were," he said. "Indeed, the game had barely started when they led 1-0. We came back into the game, we had chances and possession, Italy were of course stronger but we were in the game. I thought the second half would give us hope but we conceded two goals quickly. I think Italy made their goals out of a lot of chances, we had our chances too but we didn't score. At this level you need to take your chances, or we don't have a chance against teams like Italy."

Chaibai hope
Defeat against Ukraine on Thursday would end Belgium's campaign, and a draw would leave them hoping for a favour from the Azzurri in the last group game. Meurs admitted that his team are hampered by lacking as strong a league as Italy's, and Karim Chaibai, a Belgium player with experience of top level competition from UEFA Futsal Cup runs with former club Action 21 Charleroi, echoed that. "Unlike the Italian squad, who meet more often, we have very little time to put tactics into place," he said. "The Belgian league is very weak, we only have three or four good teams and today we could tell the lack of experience compared to Italy."


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