Courtesy: UEFA.com


Croatia the goal as EURO qualifying begins

Friday 18 February 2011

Holders Spain and former champions Italy and Russia are among 24 teams aiming to reach UEFA Futsal EURO 2012 in Croatia when the qualifying round is played out from Thursday.

by Paul Saffer

The lineup for UEFA Futsal EURO 2012 in Croatia will be decided over the next week when the qualifying round is played out across Europe.

Six four-team mini-tournaments will run from Thursday to Sunday in Azerbaijan, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Ukraine and Slovenia with the group winners and five best runners-up joining hosts Croatia in the 9 September draw in Zagreb for the finals early next year. Each of the groups contains one of the sides that triumphed in the preliminary round last month.

Spain will be hoping to win their fourth straight title but it will not be simple for them in Group 1, hosted by Azerbaijan – who reached the semi-finals on their first qualification last January in Hungary. While stalwarts Javi Rodríguez and Daniel have now retired from the Spain team, the likes of Luis Amada and Kike as well as new talents such as Pola will be in Azerbaijan where Kazakhstan and France are also present.

The 2010 runners-up Portugal are in Group 3 under new coach Jorge Braz and travel to Poland. There they will meet Belarus, who qualified for their first finals in 2010 and held Portugal 5-5 in a thrilling game. Third last year were the Czech Republic and they find themselves in a very competitive Group 4 staged by 2007 qualifiers Romania and also featuring Slovakia and Norway, who performed superbly to win all three preliminary round games in their maiden futsal tournament.

Only two countries apart from Spain have lifted the trophy and both will want to improve on quarter-final runs last time out. First they must qualify, however, and 2001 champions Russia have hardly been given an easy task in Group 2 against Serbia, who beat them 4-3 in the 2010 group stage, and hosts the Netherlands – seeking to end a seven-year finals absence. Italy, victors in 2003, go to Slovenia to take on the hosts, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Latvia.

Perhaps the most competitive section could turn out to be Group 5 where three of the 2010 finalists are involved. Hosts Ukraine have the greatest pedigree, having been runners-up twice under long-serving coach Gennadiy Lysenchuk, yet they will be challenged by Hungary and Belgium as well as relative newcomers to futsal with high ambitions, Turkey.

Qualifying round draw
Group 1: Spain, Azerbaijan (hosts), Kazakhstan, France*
Group 2: Russia, Serbia, Netherlands (hosts), Finland*
Group 3: Portugal, Belarus, Poland (hosts), Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*
Group 4: Czech Republic, Romania (hosts), Slovakia, Norway*
Group 5: Ukraine (hosts), Hungary, Belgium, Turkey*
Group 6: Italy, Slovenia (hosts), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Latvia*

*Preliminary round winners




Courtesy: UEFA.com


Venancio López backs Spain renewal

Monday 21 February 2011

Holders Spain begin their UEFA European Futsal Championship defence on Thursday and coach José Venancio López believes that a new generation of players can keep them on top.

by Massimo Gonnella

Spain's current period of football dominance pales next to their monopoly in the small-sided game and on Thursday they start their bid for a fourth successive UEFA European Futsal Championship title and fifth overall.

They begin qualifying round Group 1 against France before taking on Kazakhstan and mini-tournament hosts Azerbaijan, semi-finalists last year, with a place in the 2012 finals in Croatia the target. Although the long-serving Javi Rodríguez and Daniel have retired, the likes of Kike and Luis Amado remain available for José Venancio López − coach for Spain's 2007 and 2010 triumphs − while he is given optimism by the emergence of talents like Pola and Rafa Usín.

UEFA.com: What are your expectations for this European Championship?
José Venancio López: We will obviously try to defend our title. However, our first objective is to qualify for the final tournament.


UEFA.com: Spain have a world-leading futsal league. Where does the national team stand at this stage?
Venancio López: The national team is at a very high level right now, even though we are undergoing a phase of renewal. Some players have ended their national-team career and we have brought in some youngsters. However, we are confident that our future is well secured, because we can count on a large number of young recruits who are doing extremely well in the league.


UEFA.com: What do you expect against Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, two Eastern European teams?
Venancio López: Azerbaijan finished fourth in the last European Championship in their first final tournament. Logically, they are a very strong team and can count on many players with Brazilian roots. The last qualifying match against them will be decisive. We also know Kazakhstan since we played them in the previous qualifying competition. The toughest game will surely be against Azerbaijan.




Courtesy: UEFA.com


Sæther's new-style Norway impress

Monday 21 February 2011

Journalist Esten Sæther has turned coach for Norway's new futsal team and after a spectacular bow in the preliminary round he hopes his innovative approach can continue to pay dividends.

by Eivind Aarre from Stavanger

Norway are flying high in UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying with three wins out of three and the country's new futsal team are looking to emulate the footballers in Romania this week.

Esten Sæther's side made a spectacular debut in the sport in last month's UEFA Futsal EURO 2012 preliminary round, beating Israel 7-3, the Republic of Ireland 5-0 and Andorra 7-3 in Dublin. Sæther employed an innovative man-to-man tactical approach but as he prepares for a much tougher qualifying round task − starting on Thursday against 2010 bronze medallists the Czech Republic, hosts Romania and Slovakia − the coach believes progress is down to his players.

"The system can take some of the credit, but most of the success was founded in the way the boys played," said Sæther, a long-time sportswriter for Dagbladet newspaper. "It was almost unbelievable how the side played to their top level throughout the matches. I was really impressed with how focused and dedicated they were."

However, Sæther's strategy certainly gave Norway an edge, making them as hard to break down as their football squad has been of late. "Andorra, for example, had trouble coping when they had the ball," he said. "They had to use their goalkeeper more or less as an outfield player when in possession, which was an advantage for us. For example, goalkeeper Magnar Nordtun scored our last goal against Andorra into an open net."

Nordtun, once a footballer with Viking FK, has proved a key player along with captain Thomas Sæther – unrelated to the coach – who anchors the team with his tackling and distribution. The joker in the pack is Cato Valøy, who did not play in the first two games last month but then weighed in with a hat-trick against Andorra. "Valøy is extremely quick, and has an eye for goal," the coach said. "His hat-trick proved that we picked the right squad that time."

This month's squad includes six players from champions KFUM Futsal Oslo, who made their UEFA Futsal Cup debut this season and departed unbeaten on goal difference behind KMF Zelezarec Skopje. Avoiding defeat will be far from easy in Romania, though.

"Our results so far prove that we are at a high European level, but we know these matches will be difficult," Sæther said. "Romania have played 22 matches in the last year and are more experienced than us, the Czechs took bronze at the last EURO, while Slovakia have had some impressive results this year. Our goal is to take some points and test our system against some of the best futsal teams in Europe."


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