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UEFA.COMItaly show their class againMonday, 10 November 2003
A dramatic late double from Adriano Foglia gave Italy victory against Belgium and a place in the 2004 FIFA Futsal World Championship play-offs.
Late goalsThe forward, one of the stars of Italy's success at the 2003 UEFA European Futsal Championship, scored twice in the last three minutes of the decisive Group 2 game against the Belgians to ensure first place for his team. Prior to the match, both Italy and Belgium had won their first two matches in the mini-tournament held at the Palasport Mazzocco in Montesilvano.
Defensive steelBelgium put up a strong defensive display but the Italian pressure got its reward just as the 2,200 capacity crowd started to wonder if the goal would ever come. After excellent play from Fernando Grana, Foglia's finally broke the deadlock in the 18th minute. Almost immediately after the restart, Foglia pounced for a second to give his side a 2-0 victory.
No goals concededAs in the EURO finals earlier this year, Italy's defensive play was a major factor in their success. They did not concede a goal in their three matches, the only nation of the 32 in qualifying to keep a 100 per cent defensive record.
French beatenThey started with an 8-0 success against France, not looking back after Rocha Bertoni put the Azzurri on their way in the eighth minute. He was to score again in the second half while Morgado also finished with a double.
Surprise startBelgium were next in action but they surprisingly trailed 1-0 at half-time against Finland to a goal from Jussi Hakasalo. However, the Belgians came back in the second half to win 4-1 after scoring four times without reply including two goals from Ylias El Haoual. The Belgians were also pushed hard in their next game against France, with only El Haoual's late goal earning them a 3-2 success.
Bacaro backItaly, however, were still in fine form and romped to a 12-0 success against the Finns. Again Morgado led the way with a treble while there was always a double for Vinicius Bacaro, the man who scored the winner in the EURO final back in February. It meant that the final match against Belgium would be crucial with the winner progressing to the play-offs. First came the meeting of Finland and France, with the Finns triumphing 3-2 to ensure third place in the group.
Praise sharedItaly then made sure of top spot with that dramatic late success against the Belgians. Although he was the goalscoring hero, Foglia was quick to praise others. "We have all played well," he said. "We all contributed to the victory together."
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UEFA.COMEurope's top ten await drawMonday, 10 November 2003
The lineup has been confirmed for the European play-offs to determine which five European nations will reach the 2004 FIFA Futsal World Championship in Chinese Taipei.
Play-offs next monthSpain, Italy, Ukraine, Portugal, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Poland, Hungary, Belarus and Bosnia-Herzegovina will all go into the draw on Thursday for the two-legged play-offs on 10 and 17 December. The winners of the five ties will then represent UEFA at the finals to be played between 29 November and 19 December 2004.
Teams separatedThursday's play-off draw will be held at UEFA headquarters in Switzerland at 12.00CET. The teams will be divided into two pots of five, according to the national teams' coefficient. This will see defending world champions Spain and the reigning European title-holders Italy in pot one along with Ukraine, Portugal and the Czech Republic. Slovenia, Poland, Hungary, Belarus and Bosnia-Herzegovina will all be in pot two and play the first leg of their respective ties at home.
Dutch and Russian woeThe ten nations have all reached this stage by finishing first in their respective mini-tournaments held across Europe over the past ten days. While the Spanish and Italians were always favourite to progress there were some surprise results including Belarus triumphing at the Netherlands' expense and Bosnia-Herzegovina finishing ahead of Russia.
