Courtesy: UEFA.com


History favours Romania for Czech Republic tie

The Czech Republic have not beaten Group A opponents Romania in nine games dating back to 2006 but defender David Fric is confident they will put that right on Thursday.

Wednesday 1 February 2012

by Wayne Harrison from Split

Surprise third-place finishers two years ago, the Czech Republic commence their UEFA Futsal EURO 2012 campaign versus Romania in Split on Thursday with history weighing heavily against them.

Since Tomas Neumann took charge, the Czechs have yet to defeat Thursday's opponents in nine attempts, a sequence which includes an 8-4 defeat in their opener at what was Romania's finals debut in 2007. Most recently, Cosmin Gherman scored the only goal when the teams met in the qualifying round last February, though that result ensured both sides went through, with the Czech Republic topping the group.

Defender David Fric, who featured in both of those games, said: "We've played many times against Croatia [who they face on Saturday] and Romania, so we know their players and mentality and we know the matches will be very hard."

Referring to the qualifying loss in Tirgu-mures almost 12 months ago, the Slov-Matic Bratislava player continued: "It was the last match of the group and very decisive, that's why it finished 1-0, but now we have an excellent opportunity to win and I hope we do so."

Sito Rivera, whose Romania team were beaten 2-1 by Croatia in the Group A curtain-raiser on Tuesday, will need to lift his squad for a fixture they need to take something from to remain in contention for a quarter-final berth. "We lost but it's not too bad because it wasn't by much," said Rivera, extracting the positives. "If we win against the Czechs by a few goals everything will be OK."

Though the record books point towards a Romania victory, Rivera is not one to be swayed by statistics. "We've beaten them a few times before but that's in the past and we must look to the future," he said. "The Czech Republic are a good team and it'll be a good match."

The Czechs were involved in several of those two years ago in Hungary, where they lost their first outing 6-1 to Azerbaijan before recovering from four goals down to beat the hosts 6-5 with 19 seconds remaining. In the last eight they upset Italy on penalties en route to claiming bronze.

"We hope we can go through to the quarter-finals and maybe we can gain a medal − that's our aim," added Fric. "It's too early to say [whether we can emulate our 2010 achievement] but for now we just want to prepare for Romania."




Courtesy: UEFA.com


Slovenia supporters the key against Ukraine

Slovenia coach Andrej Dobovicnik and captain Igor Osredkar are hoping their large travelling support can roar them on to victory against Ukraine in a game that will decide both teams' fate.

Wednesday 1 February 2012

by Paul Saffer & Rok Sinkovc from Zagreb

Slovenia gave a great account of themselves in only losing their UEFA Futsal EURO 2012 Group B opener 4-2 to Spain on Tuesday and as they prepare to face Ukraine in a game likely to decide who goes through with the holders, coach Andrej Dobovicnik and captain Igor Osredkar are rallying their massed ranks of fans.

Around 2,000 Slovenian supporters made the short trip to Arena Zagreb and a similar following is expected on Thursday against a Ukraine side who know they can book early progress − and oust their opponents − with victory in their first outing of the tournament.

"I really hope that [the Slovenia fans] will come in similar or even larger number on Thursday when we play the decisive match," Dobovicnik told UEFA.com. "The fans can give the players just that little bit more energy and I believe that together we will celebrate."

Osredkar said: "I am excited about our fans. To come abroad in such numbers is exceptional. We need them even more on Thursday, when they can roar us into the quarter-finals."

As second seeds, Ukraine sat out the opening day and were in the stands to watch their opponents. Coach Gennadiy Lysenchuk led Ukraine to the final back in 2001 and 2003 and his current generation of players are maturing into a similar force having beating EURO contenders Azerbaijan and Turkey last month to win the tough Baku tournament.

"We are in good spirits," Lysenchuk said. "Slovenia have ambitious players who have been playing together for several years and this will be a very good game."

Forward Valeriy Legchanov added: "This is the most important game of the group stage. We have some very tough games in front of us and right now we can't predict how far we will go."

While Ukraine will be going into the fixture fresh and keen to ensure Saturday's meeting with Spain is merely to decide first place, Slovenia have an intense 40 minutes to get out of their system. Dobovicnik felt his side were undone by Spain's superior fitness but remains upbeat.

"I know that Ukraine are also physically very strong but if we play like [we did] against Spain, we have a real chance for a breakthrough in making the quarter-finals," he said. "However, I expect Ukraine to be slightly weaker than Spain. We will be attacking from the kick-off because only aggressive play can bring us success."




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