Courtesy: UEFA.com

Ukraine finish on a flourish

Thursday, 1 March 2007

Ukraine ensured they signed off from UEFA European Futsal Championship qualifying in style with an emphatic 9-2 victory against Andorra to wrap up Group B with a perfect record.

Matchday 3 results
Wins against Israel and Slovakia earlier this week had assured Ukraine of first place, and with it the last available berth in the finals in Porto. But today's result against the mini-tournament hosts underlined the two-time beaten finalists' desire to go one better. Earlier Slovakia had clinched second place with a 6-2 success against Israel.

Final tournament draw
In the final tournament draw at 13.30 CET on 12 May in Porto, Ukraine will be seeded in the second tier of teams with Italy. Hosts Portugal and holders Spain will head each group, one of Italy and Ukraine will join those teams and then the other qualifiers, Russia, the Czech Republic, Serbia and Romania will fill the remaining places in the two pools. The finals run from 16-25 November.



Courtesy: UEFA.com

Nuccorini's debt to futsal fans

Friday, 2 March 2007

by Paolo Menicucci

from Milan

After being deprived of their UEFA European Futsal Championship title two years ago in Ostrava, Italy have qualified for the 2007 UEFA European Futsal Championship with three impressive displays against France, Turkey and Belarus in Group A in Martina Franca. Alessandro Nuccorini's team scored 26 goals in three games and conceded only four to underline their determination to return to the top of European futsal.

'Great job'
"I'm very satisfied with the performance of my players especially because they took nothing for granted until the final whistle of the last game,” said Nuccorini, who masterminded Italy’s 2003 triumph and also led them to the FIFA Futsal World Cup final in November 2004. “It takes nothing to waste the work of several months but we did a great job in this tournament."

Fans pack arena
The enthusiasm of the fans in Martina Franca was a key factor. With the Palazzetto dello Sport packed for every Azzurri game, the Italian Football Federation had to assemble a big screen outside the venue to allow fans without tickets to watch the decisive 6-1 victory against Belarus, following a 12-1 defeat of France and 8-2 win against Turkey, the final game featuring an Adriano Foglia hat-trick,and two Sandro Zanetti goals to take his tournament tally to seven. "Our greatest advantage, however, were the fabulous fans in Martina Franca," Nuccorini said. "They gave us great support in every game we played here and I can never thank them enough for their help."

'We can compete'
Italy will find out their final tournament opponents on 12 May, with hosts Portugal, Spain, Russia, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Romania and Ukraine also involved in Porto between 16-25 November. "We have qualified for this great tournament in Portugal with the best teams in the continent," Nuccorini said. "Taking part in such tournaments and facing the best teams is our main goal. We know it will be very difficult but we also know we can compete with every team if we play with the same determination we had in Martina Franca."




Courtesy: UEFA.com

Ukraine display renewed futsal threat

Friday, 2 March 2007

by Igor Linnyk

from Kiev

"A new team is born" - the words of Ukraine coach Gennadiy Lysenchuk after his revamped squad cruised through qualifying round Group B to earn a place in November's UEFA European Futsal Championship finals.

Revamp
Runners-up in 2001 and 2003 before reaching the last four two years ago, Ukraine have a proud record in this competition. But key players including Serhiy Koridze, the leading scorer in the 2001 and 2003 finals, have now retired meaning a revamp to the team with the likes of Serhiy Taranchuk and Oleksandr Khursov featuring in their first major event. Despite some mixed warm-up results, though, Ukraine sparkled in Andorra, defeating Israel 3-0 and Slovakia 7-2 to wrap up first place with a game to spare, but celebrated by beating the home side 9-2.

Duo impress
The established Serhiy Sytin struck twice against Slovakia and Andorra to top score in the mini-tournament with four goals, but Taranchuk and Khursov both impressed in totaling three and every outfield player registered at some point. "This qualifying tournament was the most important competition I have played so far," said Taranchuk. "Before this, I didn't have much international experience, except for playing in the student world championships. Now I am dreaming about a trip to the final tournament."

Goalkeeping trio
In defence Lisenchuk also has fine resources, conceding only four times and able to field all three of his goalkeepers. No1 Vladyslav Kornyeyev suffered a hand injury after the Slovakia game, so Yevgen Ivanyak and Dmytro Lytvynenko each played a half against Andorra. Ivanyak, indeed, had already lined up against Israel, and in his half-hour playing time over two matches was unbeaten.

Work pays off
All of this gives Lisenchuk reason for optimism. "To summarise the results of qualifying, I can say that a new team is born," he said. "Half a year of work did yield results, and we produced excellent performances just when it was needed. The coaching staff certainly has players to rely on and leaders to build the team around. There is a lot of work to do before the finals and we will be working for example on pressing, because the level of competition in Portugal will be much higher. The detailed plan will be ready after 12 May, when the draw occurs."



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