Courtesy: UEFA.com


Victory fillip for Ukraine

Wednesday 26 September 2007

by Igor Linnyk

from Kiev

Ukraine look in good shape for November's UEFA European Futsal Championship after two impressive friendly victories against Latvia.

Magnificent seven
Gennadiy Lysenchuk's team won 7-1 on Monday and 5-0 a day later, and the coach – who tried out a wide selection of players ahead of naming his 14-man squad for the Porto-based tournament – was pleased with the displays. Playing at the home of UEFA Futsal Cup contenders FC Energia Lviv, Ukraine took the lead on Monday after Valeriy Zamyatin and Oleksandr Khursov combined to set up Serhiy Cheporniuk, and although Andrejs Aleksejevs equalised ten seconds later, Sergiy Taranchuk restored Ukraine's advantage. Vitaliy Belous, Roman Vakhula, Khursov and Zamyatin enhanced that cushion, before Dmytro Sylchenko scored his first goal for Ukraine.

Latvian resistance
Twenty-four hours later, it took the hosts seven minutes to break the deadlock through Taranchuk, and Vakhula made it 2-0 after a similar interval. For all the confident play of Lysenchuk's side, however, Latvia stood firm and only conceded again shortly before full time when Belous, twice, and Cheporniuk added further goals.

Right attitude
The coach said: "I am happy the lads treated these games, in which we were able to experiment, seriously. This will help us in the future. I would not call the victories against Latvia easy ones. Yes, we were better in terms of individual skill and physical fitness, but we did not need to get a result at all costs." Two-time finalists Ukraine open their Group B fixtures at the European Futsal Championship against holders Spain on 17 November, before meeting Russia and Serbia.



Courtesy: UEFA.com


Four wins for in-form Italy

Thursday 27 September 2007

by Paolo Menicucci

from Milan

An experimental Italy squad gained four victories against Poland and fellow UEFA European Futsal Championship finalists Serbia in a three-day friendly series in San Lazzaro di Savena.

Experimental squad
Azzurri coach Alessandro Nuccorini named a large squad including newcomers Saad Assis and Tosta, which he will have to cut to 14 for the finals in Porto from 16-25 November, but still extended his unbeaten run to 22 matches. They began on Monday with a 5-4 win against Poland, coming back from 3-0 and 4-2 down before captain Nando Grana struck with eight seconds left. Against the same opponents the following afternoon, Italy were more convincing and although they fell behind, Carlos Morgado equalised during the first half, and after the break Carlos Mantovanelli, Grana, Douglas Corsini and Erik Bellomo took the scoreline to 5-1.

Serbia defeated
Later that evening was the first meeting with Serbia, who had not previously lost under coach Aca Kovaèeviæ. Again late goals were the key as with two minutes to go the game was level before Italy struck twice to claim a 5-3 win. Edgar Bertoni scored a hat-trick and Adriano Foglia claimed the clincher. The next day Sandro Zanetti and Foglia put Italy two up at half-time and although Igor Šoša pulled one back for Serbia, the home side held on to win 2-1.

Right attitude
"We have a great season ahead of us," Foglia said. "We are used to playing to win in every tournament. If you wear the Italy shirt you cannot settle for second place. These kind of friendlies are very important. It would have been a huge mistake not to take them extremely seriously because they are crucial in preparing the squad in the best possible way."

Tosta's dream
Tosta, whose team play hosts Portugal, Romania and the Czech Republic in the group stage in Porto, added: "Entering this squad is a dream for me. This side is surely among the best in the world. Playing for Italy is the biggest joy in my career."



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