Six nations have made it through to the 2003 UEFA European Futsal Championship finals in Italy.

Italian hosts
Defending champions Spain have advanced along with Russia, Slovenia, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Ukraine. With the Italians qualifying as hosts, just one place is left up for grabs. It will go to the winners of the Group 2 mini-tournament later this month, featuring Belgium, Finland, Poland and Moldova.

Slovenia surprise
The finals will be played in February, with competition expected to be fierce. As well as the might of Spain, Ukraine were the 2001 runners-up, and Russia were the winners of the inaugural event in 1999. Perhaps the surprise team in the finals are Slovenia, who ended the challenge of the Netherlands in their mini-tournament.

Fine displays
Twenty-eight sides entered the qualifying round, which has been played out through seven groups of four teams. Each one of the six winners so far qualified in fine style, winning all three of their games.

Russian triumph
Russia won the inaugural UEFA event in 1999, defeating hosts Spain on penalties. The next edition in 2001 saw Spain make amends with a 2-1 final victory against Ukraine to lift the trophy in Moscow.

What is Futsal?
For the uninitiated, Futsal is a five-a-side version of football which is particularly popular in southern and eastern Europe. An exciting indoor sport, it uses a smaller ball and is played without side walls or boards.


www.uefa.com