UEFA Futsal EURO 2018 Tournament Review Itechnicali Ireporti 8 Introduction 9
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TOURNAMENT REVIEW CONTENTS UEFA President’s message 4 NZS President’s message 5 TECHNICAL REPORT Introduction 8 Road to the final 10 The final 16 Results 20 All-star squad 24 Coach interviews 26 Technical analysis 32 Goalscoring analysis 42 Team profiles 48 EVENT REPORT Perfect hosts 62 Ticketing and promotion 68 Commercial programme 70 Media rights and TV production 74 Communications 78 Roll of honour 80 4 5 Aleksander Čeferin (left) meets Radenko Mijatović ‘An unforgettable tournament’ Before UEFA Futsal EURO 2018 got under way, I expressed the view that the tournament would set new standards for this flourishing sport. I am pleased to say that my confidence was totally justified. Over 12 memorable days at the impressive Arena Stožice in the Enjoying Slovenian capital Ljubljana, we saw just how far futsal has come, in terms of the quality of the action and as the futsal a popular spectator attraction. In the end, Portugal emerged vibe victorious in a gripping final against Spain to claim their first ever European It was a real satisfaction to see UEFA futsal title, and I would like to take Futsal EURO 2018 become such a this opportunity to congratulate big success and receive such a warm the Portuguese Football Federation reception in Slovenia. The tournament and its fine team on the outstanding was an enigma before the start, but, achievement of joining the country’s thanks to the efforts of UEFA and the football team as reigning European local organising committee, we managed champions. Congratulations also to to bring the sport closer to the people Portugal’s Ricardinho on becoming and showed them it’s a dynamic and the finals’ all-time leading goalscorer attractive discipline that requires a with 22 goals in total. His goals were different set of skills to football. In the crucial to his team’s success. end, I am sure that everybody who The Slovenian public turned out came to the Arena Stožice went home in impressive numbers. The Football with a positive feeling and the desire Association of Slovenia were excellent to return. People got a taste of what hosts, and can be immensely proud to expect in December when Portugal that the finals attracted just over played a friendly against Slovenia at the 100,000 fans in total – including Arena, and that won them the affection a sell-out crowd for the final. of Slovenian fans, who helped them The EURO in Slovenia signalled the all the way to the end. Supporters got end of an era and heralds the start of behind the biggest stars and masters of an exciting new adventure. The final skills like Ricardinho, Higuita, Douglas tournament will now be played every and Miguelín, and the atmosphere in four years, starting in 2022, and the the Arena was quite special, which is field for the finals will be increased something even the players felt. I am from 12 to 16. Futsal’s profile will be proud that people got to experience the enhanced considerably as a result. futsal vibe and I hope that everybody The unforgettable tournament in enjoyed their stay in Slovenia. We my home country took the sport a would not have been able to do it huge step forward. Now, we can look all without the opportunity granted forward to even more new benchmarks to us by UEFA and their guidance, being set as the UEFA Futsal EURO for which we are very thankful. enters an exciting new age. RADENKO MIJATOVIĆ ALEKSANDER ČEFERIN Football Association UEFA President of Slovenia President UEFA Futsal EURO 2018 Tournament review iTechnicali ireporti 8 Introduction 9 This technical report aims to provide insight and Tactics and trends spark debate UEFA TECHNICAL OBSERVERS JAVIER LOZANO ORLANDO DUARTE Javier Lozano had previously Orlando Duarte, having acted as UEFA technical embarked on his futsal observer at the 2010, coaching career in 1987, 2012, 2014 and 2016 final made his mark as head coach tournaments. His passion of Sporting Clube de Portugal for futsal dates back to the in his home city of Lisbon, a early 1980s, and he made post he held for ten years. In the transition from player to the meantime, he had become coach at 31, taking the helm a member of the Portuguese of Caja Toledo and Madrid- national association’s futsal based Inter FS. In 1992, he coaching staff. Taking over as was invited to become head head coach, he led Portugal coach of the Spanish national to a bronze medal at the team – and led them to 2000 FIFA World Cup in victory in the first European Guatemala – a competition Tournament staged under won by Lozano’s Spain. Like UEFA auspices in Cordoba Javier, he led his country in 1996. It was the first of through the pioneering a rich collection of gold years of the UEFA European medals, as he subsequently Futsal Championship, led Spain to victory in the missing out on only one final Portugal adopt their defensive formation 2000 and 2004 FIFA World tournament between 1999 against Russia Cups and the 2001 and 2005 and 2010, when he handed European Championships. the baton to his assistant, He handed the baton to José Jorge Braz. After a second Venancio López in 2007 to spell at Sporting Clube, The event hosted by Slovenia was year interval, allied with an expansion and statistical information, the report is – to stimulate development by offering take a post in football with Duarte headed for Latvia the fifth and last final tournament to to 16 finalists, had already been written based on the observations and analysis analysis, reflections and debating points Real Madrid CF, initially in to take up his current post involve a dozen teams. It also ended a into international futsal calendars when provided by UEFA’s two technical and, by highlighting trends at the peak of the first-team dressing room at FK Nikars Riga, engaging cycle embracing two decades during the ball started rolling in Ljubljana. observers. In Slovenia, UEFA’s technical the European futsal pyramid, providing and then as director of player in a wide-ranging project which final tournaments had been The technical report on the final team was formed by two former national coaches at senior and development development, before returning aimed at developing futsal staged on a biennial basis, with one tournament of the tenth official UEFA team coaches with extensive experience levels with information that may be to futsal to assume his current in the Baltic country. anecdotic exception when the switch European Futsal Championship provides accumulated at EUROs and FIFA World helpful when working on the qualities role as president of Spain’s from November to January starting a permanent record of the 20 matches Cups, Javier Lozano and Orlando Duarte. required by the players and coaches professional futsal league. dates generated a gap between 2007 played at the Arena Stožice in the The observations and data that appear who will play leading roles in shaping and 2010. The introduction of a four- Slovenian capital. In addition to factual in this review have a similar objective the future of futsal in Europe. UEFA Futsal EURO 2018 Tournament review 10 Competition overview 11 Eder Lima fires at goal against Poland gladiatorial contest punctuated by eight yellow cards and the dismissal of a member of the Italian bench. At half-time, rationality hinted at disappointment for the hosts. Italy’s Road to high pressure generated rapid ball recoveries amid a flattish individual marking system adopted by Slovenia with captain Igor Osredkar shadowing Italy’s the final main creative spirit, Merlim. Ball-winning Close encounters, tight defences and an increasingly even was followed by intelligent use of the wide areas, defence-splitting diagonal playing field were the hallmarks of a compelling tournament passing and a constant peppering of Damir Puškar in the Slovenian goal, only for the latter to produce some “Nowadays there is definitely more superlative shot-stopping. Italy’s only equality. There are no longer any reward was an early goal when lack of easy opponents.” Russia coach Sergei pressure on ball carriers allowed Marco Skorovich concisely summarised a Ercolessi to feed the ball into the path group stage in which five of the dozen of an infield run by Humberto Honorio. matches were drawn, with Italy, Russia The wind changed direction after the and Spain – the only three countries to break. The hosts shook their way out have lifted the European futsal crown – of the Italian stranglehold by pressing accumulating a joint total of nine goals more aggressively and, with a pivot at a miserly average of 1.5 per game. receiving and shielding (notably Matej At the same juncture of the previous Fideršek), fabricated more solid options final tournament, their total had stood for a reply. It came just after the half- at 23. Despite failure to attain attacking hour when Osredkar appeared unmarked benchmarks, Russia and defending at the far post to convert a cross from champions Spain edged into the quarter- the left. Then, with 65 seconds on the finals. The major surprise was that clock and Italy probing desperately Italy, title winners in 2014, did not. with the flying goalkeeper, Murilo was caught in possession by Osredkar, GROUP A who ran the length of the pitch to tap ITALY TUMBLE OUT in the winner that sent Italy home. he first appearance by Roberto T Menichelli’s team was against GROUP B Serbia who, despite suspensions to KAZAKHSTAN ON TOP goalkeeper Miodrag Aksentijević and the ussia suffered similar, albeit less influential Marko Perić, had frustrated terminal, frustration. It took the hosts by fighting back from a 2-0 R 35 minutes to find a path to the net deficit and equalising through Dragan through a Poland team that competed Tomić turning in a long-range shot collectively and unstintingly, probing from flying goalkeeper Mladen Kocić with direct passes to the pivot or fast with 29 seconds left on the clock.