4.05 Including Another futsal double for Spain 03 Assistance programmes 06 Switzerland gears up for EURO 2008 10 UEFA Congress in Tallinn 12 No. 36 – April 2005 COVER IN THIS ISSUE Preparing for the youth competition final rounds 09 Fran Serrejon with the European Futsal Championship trophy. Spain wins the European Switzerland gears up for EURO 2008 10 Spain’s collection of Futsal Championship 03 futsal silverware continues Tallinn prepares to host the UEFA Congress 12 to expand. HatTrick assistance PHOTO: UEFA programme in full swing 06 News from member associations 16 EasternEditorial promise In February the Czech Republic played host to an extremely successful final round of the European Futsal Championship, showing how popular this relatively new sector of the game has become. In April, Estonia wel- comes the delegates of UEFA’s member associations for the XXIX UEFA Congress. Furthermore, several East European national associations have declared their intention to bid to host EURO 2012. And as the UEFA Cup moves into its final stages, Romanian, Russian and Ukrainian clubs are still in the running in the round of 16. On the field and behind the scenes, football-related activities are booming in Eastern Europe, and at the same time, huge efforts are being made to improve football infrastructure, including in terms of stadium renovation and construction. This vigour is unquestionably a happy phenomenon for European football as a whole. The fact that these associations are keen to and in a position to successfully organise UEFA events, be they tournaments or congresses, shows the soundness and effectiveness of the policy introduced by UEFA in the early 1990s, following the political upheaval in Eastern Europe, when UEFA decided to initiate assistance programmes to help the new football associations born out of that upheaval to fit into and achieve Western standards. Above all, however, this dynamism contributes, like the performance of East European clubs on the field, to the continuous development of football all over Europe, because it spurs the other associations and their clubs to greater effort in order to stay on top. Essentially, therefore, it is a levelling-up process that has to be envisaged, to guarantee balance and, consequently, interest in the UEFA competitions Serhiy Koridze (Ukraine) during in a healthy environment. the final round in Ostrava. It is also for this reason that UEFA’s assistance programmes have The East European teams been extended to all its member associations and are no longer being offered rank among only to those in Eastern Europe. Europe’s futsal elite. Lars-Christer Olsson Chief Executive UEFA we care about football 02 uefadirect 4.05 European FutsalSpanish Championship “Paso Doble” in Ostrava Another trophy for Spain’s futsal team. UEFA PLAYED IN OSTRAVA IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC FROM 14 TO 20 FEBRUARY, Hungary were the ‘intruders’ in THE 4TH EUROPEAN FUTSAL CHAMPIONSHIP ALLOWED SPAIN TO COMPLETE A MAGNIFICENT a ‘group of death’ involving Portugal, ‘DOUBLE DOUBLE’. JUST AS THEY DID WHEN THEY RETURNED FROM GUATEMALA world champions Spain and European AS WORLD CHAMPIONS IN 2000, THEY BROUGHT THE WORLD CROWN FROM TAIPEI champions Italy. The four Group A TO OSTRAVA AND ADDED THE EUROPEAN TITLE TO THEIR RICH COLLECTION OF TROPHIES. teams went into the final match day with chances of reaching the semi- The final against Russia chairman of UEFA’s Futsal Committee finals, and the thousands of Czech represented a repeat of the first two and General Secretary of the Czech fans who flocked to the magnificent chapters in the history of the host association, that it was the CEZ arena were disappointed to have European Futsal Championship. first time that the final tournament their dreams dashed by a young Dutch Spain struck gold in the first had been staged in central Europe. side that, in the view of their coach, UEFA-organised tournament in “I’m sure a lot more of the Vic Hermans, could be challenging 1996 but the Russians wreaked ‘smaller’ countries will follow for silverware in the near future. revenge in the first official our footsteps and organise the The hosts’ hopes had already been championship staged in 1999. The futsal finals,” he said. dented by the loss of the influential finals played during the last decade But even the draw seemed to Roman Mares barely ten minutes have all pitted orient against occident respect the East-West polarisation, with into the opening match. In the other and Ostrava 2005 was no exception. Russia, Ukraine and the Netherlands game, Gennadiy Lysenchuk’s Ukraine But it was pointed out by Petr Fousek, going into Group A with the hosts, while team, led spiritually and physically 03 Samir Makhoukhi Petr Fousek, Adriano Foglia (left) of the chairman shoots at goal. promising of the Futsal Italy dominated Dutch team Committee. their semi-final challenges against Russia, Martin Dlouhy but to no avail. (Czech Republic). Spanish court by Serhiy Koridze, won an epic victory calories in the game against Russia over Russia to secure top spot. and, immediately afterwards, the fans The surface on which Europe’s leading futsal teams In the other group, Hungary in the CEZ arena were treated to played in Ostrava had travelled struggled to cope with occidental a match that no one will forget in a long way. The “Pista Azul” technique, while Portugal, who played a hurry – not even the Italians, much (the blue court) had been trans- almost 20% of their 120 minutes with- as they would wish to. The statistics ported – in 440 pieces, weigh- out a goalkeeper, made an outstanding form a clear picture. Italy had 43 shots ing 9,680 kg in total – from contribution to the spectacle but paid at goal; Russia 13. The Italians had Spain to the Czech Republic, via France and Germany, an heavy prices for lapses of concentra- 23 corners; their opponents only expedition that took three days. tion. Both they and the Hungarians three. Alessandro Nuccorini’s players Apart from being tested in made the Spaniards sweat for victory put the Russians under so much a friendly between the Czech and, when Javier Lozano’s side was pressure that, in the first half of the Republic and Poland on the beaten 3-1 by Italy, the defending second period, Oleg Ivanov’s team occasion of the draw for the champions seemed to be the strongest struggled to reach the halfway line. final round in September 2004, in the tournament, winning all three But, somehow, aided by the wood- it was the first time that the Spanish court had been used group games, scoring more goals than work and some minor miracles per- outside Spain, where it is used anybody else and boasting the top formed by goalkeeper Sergy Zuyev, once a week in the domestic scorer, Nando Grana. they pegged the score down to futsal league, for whichever a 2-1 deficit and, against all the odds, match is being shown live on TV. Unforgettable match equalised from a rare break. And, But fortunes were dramatically while everyone was rubbing their eyes a bronze medal as consolation by reversed in two stunning semi-finals. in disbelief – including, it seemed, beating the plucky Ukrainians 3-1. The Spaniards produced a scintillating the Italian players, they scored twice 5-0 win over a Ukrainian side that in a minute to clinch an improbable Record-breaking TV audiences seemed to have invested too many 4-2 win, leaving the Italians to take Having beaten the two group winners, the runners-up met in a final Javi Rodriguez (Spain, right) holds watched by nearly 4,000 spectators his own against and record-breaking TV audiences. Vladislav Shayakhmetov (Russia) in the final. In the event, Spanish experience and big-match street craft proved too much for a young Russian side cur- rently under reconstruction. Their high-speed ball circulation, their technique and their tactical acumen, led by the impeccable Javi Rodríguez, laid the foundations for a 2-0 lead, with the outstanding Andreu opening the scoring and Cogorro, coming in for injured goalscorer Marcelo, adding the second. However, when Konstantin Dushkevic reduced arrears with ten minutes to play, he set up a stirring finish to a spectacular tournament in which 16 games pro- duced 87 goals. 04 uefadirect 4.05 The final Nando Grana Enrique (Spain) round (Italy centre), intercepts enjoyed top scorer a pass from very good of the Oleg Shaytanov media tournament. (Ukraine) coverage. in the semi-finals. But the classy Spaniards Still on the subject of the final, were not to be denied their fifth he added: “We played a team of the Russian gold medal in seven European and future today, a young team with fair play world tournaments. Javier Lozano, huge potential. Anything was possi- The eight finalists all admitting that he had struggled ble right up to the end.” respected the spirit of fair to remotivate his players so soon Italy’s Nando Grana was the top play during the tournament after the battle for the world crown, scorer of the tournament, with six modestly cast aside any mention goals to his name, ahead of Russia’s and all achieved an average of ‘Spanish supremacy’. “We had to Vladislav Shayakhmetov, who scored of eight points. However, work very hard for this title,” five times. And if Portugal had not Russia finished at the top he insisted. “The tournament been knocked out after the group of the fair play table on in Ostrava was an advertisement matches, perhaps Gonç,alo – third in 8.507 points, just ahead for the rapidly rising standards of the goal-scoring stakes – would have of the Czech Republic (8.500) European futsal.” outdone the first two, who knows? and Spain (8.442).