Russia
Thursday 3 July 2008
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Russia (©Futsal Association of Russia)
The hosts of the first UEFA European Under-21 Futsal Tournament, Russia, will be keen to match the achievement of their senior team in winning the first full UEFA European Futsal Championship in 1999.
Preparation
Spared qualifying, the Russia squad nonetheless set down a marker in the annual Autumn competition in St Petersburg, venue for this final tournament. Coached by senior chief Oleg Ivanov, Russia beat the Netherlands 5-3, Moldova 10-0 and held Iran 1-1 to reach the last four, where they defeated Ukraine 6-1 before losing 6-4 on penalties to Spain after a 1-1 draw.
Senior achievements
Russia are, of course, an established force in the senior game - they reached the final of the first European tournament in 1996 and won the championship three years later, beating hosts Spain on penalties. They also reached the 2005 final, losing to Spain, and the last four in 2001 and 2007, the same stage they made in the 1996 and 2000 FIFA Futsal World Cups.
Key players
Ivanov picked out Dmitry Prudnikov, Vladimir Ryabinin, Kirill Pogorelov, Ildar Nagumanov, Dmitry Lyskov and Danil Kutuzov as the stars of the 2007 tournament. Lyskov and Kutuzov have senior experience and are set to go to the 2008 senior World Cup in Brazil.
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