Less than three months after winning the FIFA Futsal World Championship, Spain have added the European Championship title to their increasingly impressive list of honours.

Spain's double was complete just 77 days after victory over Italy in the final of the FIFA Futsal World Championship Chinese Taipei 2004. This time around, coach Javier Lozano's men won the 2005 European Futsal Championship in the Czech city of Ostrava with a well-deserved 2-1 success over Russia in the final.

"My team had a few problems in the group phase, but in the semi-final and final they were back on top form," said Lozano after Spain had collected their third European title. "The trickier the situation and the stronger the opponents, the better our mental attitude."

The Spaniards controlled the vast majority of the game against surprise finalists Russia, but it took a mature, focused display to hold the line against a storming display from their young opponents. Andreu put Spain into the lead, and after Cogorro had taken advantage of a mistake by the otherwise splendid Russian goalkeeper Sergei Zouev to make it 2-0, the world champions seemed to have the game in the bag. But the Russians showed their courage by pulling back a goal through Konstantin Douchkevitch. They threw everything forward thereafter, bringing on captain Mikhail Markin in the closing stages as an additional outfield player, but the Spanish defence held firm. The closest the Russians came was a shot from Sergei Malyshev just before the final whistle.

Looking back on the game, Lozano said: "The first half was very evenly balanced and both teams had their chances, but we didn't work hard enough on the ball and in defence. We were better in the second half, and we produced more pressure." He dedicated the victory to the absent Pipe, who missed out with an injury. Russian coach Oleg Ivanov had to acknowledge: "We tried to neutralise Javi Rodríguez, but the Spanish were too strong for us. The first goal was the turning point."

Experience the key for Spain

Ivanov blamed the defeat on his side's lack of experience. Still, the young Russian team can be pleased with the runners-up spot having overcome all but the world champions with their fast counter-attacking game. "It's great that we've joined the ranks of the best teams in Europe," Ivanov added. "I am very pleased with the performance of my players." It will be interesting to see how a team with players such as Vladislav Shayakhmetov, Damir Khamadiyev or Aleksandr Foukine will develop, but it does appear that a new Futsal power is born.

 

Although Spain demonstrated only fitfully the kind of form they had shown in the FIFA Futsal World Championship, Lozano's players were wide awake at the decisive moments. The parallels with the world showcase are unmistakable. Just like in Chinese Taipei, where they lost to Italy in the second phase, Spain had trouble getting into their stride in Ostrava, but once again it was the Iberians came out on top in the end.

In the third place match Italy, who had been unlucky to go down 4-2 to Russia in the best match of the tournament, saw off Ukraine with a 3-1 win. Said Italy coach Alessandro Nuccorini: "I am very pleased with this result and with the performance of my players during the tournament, although of course that's no consolation for us."

Ukraine coach Gennadiy Lissenschuk commented: "This has been a success for us, especially to have reached the semi-finals. We have plenty of young players in the team and are going through a change of generations. Of course it's sad to leave the Czech Republic without any medals, but in two or three years' time we will be back in the top three."

Results:

First round

Czech Republic 2 Ukraine 1
Russia 5 Netherlands 3
Italy 8 Portugal 3
Hungary 2 Spain 4

Czech Republic 1 Russia 4
Ukraine 4 Netherlands 1
Italy 5 Hungary 0
Portugal 1 Spain 3

Netherlands 4 Czech Republic 3
Ukraine 2 Russia 1
Spain 1 Italy 3
Portugal 5 Hungary 3

Semi-finals

Ukraine 0 Spain 5
Italy 2 Russia 4

Third place match

Ukraine 1 Italy 3

Final

Spain 2 Russia 1

Final standings:
1. Spain
2. Russia
3. Italy
4. Ukraine

Leading goalscorers:
6 goals Nando Grana (ITA), 5 goals Vladislav Shayakhmetov (RUS), 4 goals each Gonçalo (POR) and Sergiy Sytin (UKR)