Courtesy: UEFA.com


Spain find form to top Ukraine

A brilliant first-half display by Spain left them four up and the victory gives them top spot in Group B above their fellow quarter-finalists.

Saturday 4 February 2012

Ukraine 1-4 Spain

by Paul Saffer from Arena Zagreb

Spain hit top form at UEFA Futsal EURO 2012 with a comfortable victory that gives them first place in Group B above Ukraine, their fellow quarter-finalists.

Behind on goal difference at kick-off, Spain improved on their opening 4-2 win against Slovenia and were four to the good at the break, able to ease off in the second period. They remain in Zagreb on Monday to meet the runners-up in Group A, with the winners of that section awaiting Ukraine in Split that evening.

Ukraine coach Gennadiy Lysenchuk opted to give Dmytro Lytvynenko a go in goal and he was busy from the start, saving from Alemao and Rafael Usín. But Borja then took over from Usín up front and intercepted a Ukraine kick-in to comfortably beat Lytvynenko.

The Ukraine counterattacking game, so potent in the 6-3 win against Slovenia, was seldom in evidence as they rarely had the ball, or any space when they did. Then towards the end of the first half it was time for Spain to turn on the style.

First Miguelín turned in a Torras cross. Then Usín was twice rewarded for a superb display as he finished off a fine passing move following Kike's centre, and soon after produced a cheeky finish through the legs of Lytvynenko. Both teams switched their goalkeepers at the break, Cristian on for Spain and making his senior competitive debut for Ukraine, Kyrylo Tsypun, who made a pair of impressive early saves from Sergio Lozano.

At the midway point in the half Denys Ovsyannikov was deployed as a flying keeper for Ukraine and after a long spell of possession, Oleksandr Kondratyuk played the ball in and, under pressure from Maxym Pavlenko, Kike volleyed into his own net. The comeback was never on, though, and Lozano came close three times.




Courtesy: UEFA.com


'Great performance' completes Spain's goal

"Mission accomplished," was Spain coach José Venancio López's reaction to an impressive 4-1 defeat of Ukraine which means their opponents will have to switch to Split for their quarter-final.

Saturday 4 February 2012

by Gonzalo Aguado, Paul Saffer & Nuno Tavares from Arena Zagreb

José Venancio López, Spain coach
Mission accomplished. We put on a great performance, especially in the first half. Today we were calmer, playing a lot smarter. Ukraine let us play more comfortably than Slovenia. Today we had a great first half and we did not stop playing. We defended very well. In the second half we weren't hitting the target, because we may have had more opportunities than in the first. But overall we had a great game.

The bad news is the return of Álvaro's injury. Let's wait for the tests to see what happens, but it does not look good. After Fernandao's injury we are left only with Rafael Usín as pivot, and today he had a great game. He is very important to our game, I'm glad he recovered from his injury.

We wanted to come top to avoid having to travel to Split. We're used to this environment, and that motivates us. Now every game is life or death, and that is when we must be vigilant. We cannot fail, because we would go home.

Rafael Usín, Spain double goalscorer
Our goal was to be first in the group. We knew we were going to play two very difficult matches, but today we put on a complete performance. We have made them seem a small team. They had no choice. It is an honour for me to be here. I was unlucky to pick up a yellow card in the first game and I did not play well. Today I was in from the beginning and tried to help the team. We go from a low to a high, it is difficult to start but now comes the most beautiful part.

Luis Amado, Spain goalkeeper
Our goal is to win every game. It is clear that coming top is important, but I repeat that our goal is to win every game. We expected a trickier game but that is credit to us because we didn't let them play. We played very well and we pushed hard. Today we confirmed our progression with a great game. We are going from strength to strength.

Gennadiy Lysenchuk, Ukraine coach
There are several reasons for our defeat. Two days ago we had a very tough match against Slovenia, we really wanted to win that game. But as a result of that match we picked up injuries to players, and that affected us against Spain, and the other players were unable to recover quickly enough from that match. Spain had two days extra to recover, but that is not the main reason for our defeat.

Spain are the strongest team in Europe and the world, and we would like to congratulate them. We would like to play Spain again in the final and we will give everything we can to achieve it. We understand it will be hard but we will do our best. Tomorrow we are going to Split but I think we will be back in Zagreb [for the semi-finals].

Yevgen Rogachov, Ukraine forward
We lost, it's true, but the result was not very bad for us. We did our best on the pitch and I think we played quite well but Spain were just too strong today. We always try to learn from these matches against great teams so we can improve and today it was another lesson for our team. We tried to play our system but it just didn't work.

We made a huge mistake which led to Spain's first goal but after that we reacted well and tried to go forward in search for an equaliser. Unfortunately we were not able to score a goal and Spain pegged us back with three more goals before the break. After that we knew it was going to be very tough to get back into the game.

Valeriy Legchanov, Ukraine captain
It was terrible for us to concede a goal so early in the match and after that those three goals before the break ended our hopes of coming away with a positive result. It was definitely not a good day for us. We all know Spain are the best team in Europe. We are still not at their level but we are working hard to get there. Maybe we will meet them again in the final of the competition and we can avenge this defeat.




Courtesy: UEFA.com


Croatia sew up Group A with thrilling Czech win

The hosts are through to the last eight as Group A winners despite a frantic second half in which the Czechs levelled from 3-1 down.

Saturday 4 February 2012

Czech Republic 4-5 Croatia

by Wayne Harrison from Spaladium Arena

Croatia advanced to the last eight of UEFA Futsal EURO 2012 as Group A winners courtesy of a 5-4 victory against the Czech Republic, who are out.

Leading through Jakov Grcic and Dario Marinovic by the 23rd minute, the hosts were pegged back by Michal Belej. Frane Despotovic restored the two-goal cushion and while Marek Kopecky and Roman Mares helped level matters, Tihomir Novak and Marinovic, again, sealed a win which means Croatia remain in Split to play Ukraine in the quarter-finals on Monday.

Needing a two-goal triumph to progress at the expense of the hosts, the 2010 semi-finalists tried to force the issue yet in doing so almost came unstuck, Libor Gercak thwarting Marinovic in an early one-on-one. Tomas Neumann's side responded through Jan Janovsky, but the size of their task grew when Grcic's shot was went in off Kopecky.

Exuding confidence, Grcic executed a bicycle kick into the side netting moments later. Content to bide their time before the goal, Mato Stankovic's team intensified that approach while retaining their menace, Franko Jelovcic hitting the woodwork one such example.

Marinovic doubled the lead two minutes after the restart with a final individual goal from Grcic's chip forward. Bringing the ball out of the air with aplomb, he put Gercak on his backside before calmly finding the net.

Now desperate, Neumann deployed Jiri Novotny as a flying goalkeeper; it immediately paid dividends as the No3 set up Lukas Resetar for a shot which Belej nudged in. No sooner had the plan worked, though, then the Czechs found themselves two behind again, Despotovic easing the tension with a punt into the unguarded net.

Kopecky and Mares gave the Czechs a ray of hope but a fierce Novak drive and Marinovic's shot into another empty goal put the gloss on proceedings. Though Novak put through his own net, the Czechs' chances disappeared altogether when David Fric was sent off.



Courtesy: UEFA.com


Stankovic and Croatia hit quarter-final target

Mato Stankovic is not getting carried away despite guiding Croatia into the last eight, where they face Ukraine after knocking out disappointed 2010 semi-finalists the Czech Republic.

Sunday 5 February 2012

by Wayne Harrison & Bernard Jurisic from Spaladium Arena

Mato Stankovic, Croatia coach
It feels very good [to have qualified] but, at the moment, we have only hit the targets we and our fans expected us to. Yes, [I was worried when they levelled at 3-3] but I'm very proud that we showed a good attitude. Finally, after several years, this team has turned into one which can win that type of game.

I'm very grateful that in these weather conditions a lot of people came to the arena, it was an incredible number. We're very thankful for the support and I'm sure on Monday [against Ukraine in the quarter-finals] there will be more people here to support the Croatian futsal team. I'm very glad they're happy to be part of it.

Ivo Jukic, Croatia goalkeeper
We were handicapped because of the snow − there would have been 10,000 fans here if the weather wasn't so bad. I have to thank every one of the supporters who made it to the hall; they helped us in the end when we needed it. We've settled an old score with the Czech Republic and I hope we'll do the same with Ukraine.

Tomas Neumann, Czech Republic coach
I would like to congratulate Croatia. The atmosphere was very, very good and the game was, too. We can't score − that's our problem. When it was 3-3 we had a chance, but we made mistakes and Croatia scored instead. We tried to play with the flying goalkeeper, and scored, but Croatia were very good defensively and we didn't have any more chances.

Lukas Resetar, Czech Republic forward
The second goal early in the second period gave Croatia the psychological advantage, so we needed to use the flying goalkeeper for most of the half. When you play like that there is a lot of risk involved and Croatia punished us a couple of times when we lost the ball. We hoped to reach the quarter-finals, so we can't be happy with two defeats.




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