2022 UEFA Futsal Euro Preview Group A (Part 3)
First up is group A. Netherlands (hosts), Serbia, Ukraine and Portugal (holders)
NETHERLANDS (hosts)
It’s been over 30 years since the Netherlands has had the opportunity to host a major Futsal tournament. The last time the Dutch were able to welcome Futsal was in 1989 when they hosted the first FIFA Futsal World Cup.
Victor Hermans, scorer of six goals in that tournament and golden ball winner and now a successful Futsal manager, is a household name and one of the names best known in Futsal circles.
In a recent interview with Victor Hermans conducted by Steve Harris and published on the renowned Futsal Planet platform, he expressed how he would improve the global Futsal landscape.
“I would mandate that 15% of the budget that FIFA allots to countries be devoted to the development of Futsal. Each member association should have its own Futsal director who assures that the funds are used correctly.”
“If FIFA determines that the member association does not follow this mandate, they should be made to forfeit their 15%. Next, we need a Futsal department inside of FIFA to make the right decisions for the game.”
“And then Futsal should be made an Olympic sport. They say that there is now too much football in the Summer Olympics, so simply include it in the Winter Olympics.”
The current team can only be inspired by the 1989 campaign as the hosts only lost out in the final to Brazil in a 2-1 defeat. Even though they have managed to reach the semi-finals ten years later in Spain, they fell short by losing 9-6 to Russia. This was when they registered their best position to date, coming fourth and losing the third-place play-off to Italy in a 3-0 defeat.
Despite not qualifying to the most recent edition in 2018 Slovenia, the hosts are aiming to put on a great tournament. Sitting in a group with Portugal, the current holders and another two tough teams Serbia and Ukraine, they will need all their arsenal to make it through to the round of 16.
https://twitter.com/OranjeFutsal/status/1483001307376017412
Currently, ranked 36th in the Futsal World ranking, the Netherlands are the lowest ranked team and will need a strong start against Ukraine give themselves a chance.
Coach Max Tjaden, who has earned 78 caps as player, selected a squad with all players playing their Futsal in Netherlands with majority of them representing FC Marlene, FC Eindhoven and Zvv Hovocubo, the most recent Dutch representative in the UEFA Futsal Champions League.
As hosts, Tjaden did not have to worry about qualifying but throughout 2021 the manager kept his players busy playing 21 friendlies matches in preparation for the 2022 tournament. Opposition included Argentina, Belgium and France and some 2022 finalists in Italy and Portugal.
Tevfik Ceyar was the player most involved in these friendlies with Manuel Kuijk and Mats Velseboer following suit. Jamal El Ghannouti tallied his 150th international goal against Italy this year, Mohamed Attaibi reached his 100th cap and Mats Velseboer achieved his 75th cap.
In terms of goal scorers and the ones to look out for, in 2021, five players accounted for two thirds of the 36 goals scored by the Dutch. Jordany Martinus, Mats Velseboer, Said Bouzambou, Soufian Charraoui and Tevfik Ceyar each scored five times. Amongst those, Martinus was the only to score a hattrick against Germany and is the one to keep tabs on.
Form:
Draw: 4-4 Albania (26/10/2019 FIFA Futsal World Cup)
Loss: 5-0 Kazakhstan (24/10/2019 FIFA Futsal World Cup)
Draw: 1-1 Romania (23/10/2019 FIFA Futsal World Cup)
Win: 6-1 Bulgaria (02/02/2019 FIFA Futsal World Cup)
Win: 4-2 Montenegro (31/01/2019 FIFA Futsal World Cup)
Squad List:
Coach
Max Tjaden
Goalkeepers
Manuel Kuijk (FC Eindhoven, Netherlands) and Barry de Wit (FC Marlène, Netherlands)
Defenders
Tevfik Ceyar (FCK De Hommel, Netherlands), Oualid Saadouni (FC Eindhoven Futsal, Netherlands), Mats Velseboaer (Zvv Hovocubo, Netherlands) and Jamal El Ghannouti (ASV Lebo, Netherlands)
Forwards
Mohamed Attaibi (FC Marlène, Netherlands), Lahcen Bouyouzan (Zvv Hovocubo, Netherlands), Mo Darri (FC Marlène, Netherlands), Karim Moussaoui (Zvv Hovocubo, Netherlands), Yoshua St. Juste (Zvv Hovocubo, Netherlands), Said Bouzambou (FC Eindhoven Futsal, Netherlands), Jordany Martinus (FC Eindhoven Futsal, Netherlands) and Amir Molkârâi (FC Marlène, Netherlands)
https://twitter.com/OranjeFutsal/status/1480237955172245506
SERBIA
For the first time in their history, Serbia hosted the 10th edition of the UEFA Futsal Euro in 2016 beating Bulgaria and Macedonia’s bid. All matches were played in Belgrade and the hosts were able to take advantage of their home support.
The home team were able to sell out Arena Belgrade for all of their five matches. The Arena has a capacity of 11,161, showing keen support in the nation’s capital. The total competition attendance was 113,820 clearly showing that the Serbians are a Futsal fanatic nation.
This campaign remains the nation’s best efforts having only lost marginally to Russia by 3-2 in added extra time in one of the semi-finals. The team, which was led by Mladen Kocić, who scored five goals in the tournament, went on to lose their third-place play-off match against Kazakhstan in a 5-2 defeat.
In the following tournament, in Slovenia 2018, they fell one step before the semi-finals. Kazakhstan had not only starved the Serbians of a third-place medal before, now they took their chance of reaching the semi-finals.
The regress in competition form, only increased by the year and with the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup came another disappointment. This time, they faced the mighty Portuguese and in dramatic fashion they fell short after losing 4-3 in added extra time.
The drama doesn’t end there as the Serbians were the last nation to qualify for this tournament. They came runners-ups of group four in the qualifying stage subsequently having to play a play-off against Belarus whose qualifying record was slightly better.
This consisted of a home and an away play-off where Serbia beat Belarus 3-1 at home and then 3-2 away from home. On the 17th of November 2021, finally they knew they were through guaranteeing their spot in the tournament.
They’ve had the shortest break and time to prepare compared to other nations but this can be a factor helping their form. Coach Dejan Majes’s players are going to have to remain ready and carry the excitement of late classification into the tournament into Netherlands.
In a group where it is more than likely that three teams are going to be battling out for the runners up position, the Serbians will need to lean on the experience of players like Mladen Kocić but also the younger and clinical Jovan Lazarević.
Lazarević, who plays his Futsal for Russian side MFK Tyumen had a great 2021 FIFA World Cup campaign. He tallied up a record of four goals which has earned him a spot in the Futsal Planet awards list. Lazarević has been nominated as one of the “Best Men’s Player in the World” and is certainly one to keep an eye on.
Damon Shaw is the managing director of Futsal Camp UK and the founder of The Futsal Shop. He possesses a great amount of Futsal experience having coached in Malaysia, Poland, Malta and in various clubs domestically.
When speaking with him, he fancied Kazakhstan’s chances but remained confident Spain will come at this tournament with everything they have, he added:
“I’m looking forward to seeing the Netherlands arrive on the Futsal scene after a long time out and I think Serbia could cause some upsets to the typical “bigger” teams.”
The team currently sits in 15th in the Futsal World ranking and its players play their Futsal all over Europe and beyond. Serbia, France, Russia, Poland, Belgium but can this group of players go one better than 2016 and reach the final?
Form:
Win: 3-2 Belarus (17/11/2021 UEFA Futsal Euro)
Win: 3-1 Belarus (15/22/2021 UEFA Futsal Euro)
Loss: 4-3 Portugal (24/09/2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup)
Win: 7-0 USA (FIFA Futsal World Cup)
Loss: 4-2 Argentina (FIFA Futsal World Cup)
Squad List:
Coach
Dejan Majes
Goalkeepers
Nemanja Momčilović (Mouvaux Lille Métropole Futsal, France) and Jakov Vulić (KMF Fon Beograd, Serbia)
Outfielders
Denis Ramić (KMF Fon Beograd, Serbia), Jovan Lazarević (MFK Tyumen, Russia), Ninoslav Aleksić (Scoregoal Kecskeméti,Hungary), Stefan Rakić (BTS Rekord Bielsko-Biała, Poland), Dragan Tomić (FP Halle-Gooik, Belgium), Slobodan Rajčević (KMF Fon Beograd, Serbia), Mladen Kocić (KMF Loznica, Serbia), Lazar Milosavljevic (KMF Novi Pazar, Serbia), Marko Pršić (Al-Arabi SC, Qatar), Miloš Stojković (MNK Pula, Croatia) and Marko Radovanović (KMF Fon Beograd, Serbia)
UKRAINE
Despite having never achieved the ultimate European honour of winning a UEFA Futsal Euro, Ukraine has a rich history in this tournament and they have come close to victory a couple of times. They are the only nation to have reached the final twice and not triumphed.
In the third edition of the tournament, when it was hosted by Russia in 2001, there was half of teams participating. Ukraine was part of group A where they came second after Spain.
This wouldn’t be the first time they’d fall to the Spanish. After beating Italy on penalties in the semi-finals they’d face Spain in the final. Led by Serhiy Koridze, who was the top goal scorer of the tournament, Ukraine fell short and lost to Spain in a 2-1 added extra time defeat.
In the following tournament, history would repeat itself. This time, Ukraine had done one over Spain and with one point difference they came top of their group. Ukraine brushed Czech Republic a side with a 5-1 win in the semi-finals but would fall short and lose to hosts Italy, in a 1-0 defeat.
Since then, the nation has not been able to achieve the same feat and reach the final. Ukraine has gone past the group stage of the past five editions of the UEFA Futsal Euro but have fallen in every quarter final.
The team currently sits in 12th position in the Futsal World ranking and have been able to qualify to the 2022 Euro by coming runners up in the Group one of the qualifying group stage.
In 2021, the Ukrainians have played a total of 11 international matches. Five official and six friendlies having won six times and losing five. In nine of those matches they managed to score and those goals were shared between 15 different players. Mykahilo Zvarych has led the scoring tally with six for his name.
Coach Oleksandr Kosenko has selected a mix of players that mostly play their Futsal in Ukraine between MFC Prodexim Kherson and MFC HIT Kyiv but has also selected players that play in Belarus and Russia.
Zvarych will need to bring his form into the opening game as they face the hosts, Netherlands and in order to fulfil their aspirations they will need to start the tournament on the front foot.
Form:
W: 8-2 Denmark (08/04/2021 UEFA Futsal Euro)
W: 6-2 Denmark (07/04/2021 UEFA Futsal Euro)
L: 7-2 Croatia (07/03/2021 UEFA Futsal Euro)
L: 3-2 Croatia (03/03/2021 UEFA Futsal Euro)
W: 10-3 Albania (31/01/2021 UEFA Futsal Euro)
Squad List:
Coach
Oleksandr Kosenko
Goalkeepers
Kyrylo Tsypun (MFC Kherson, Ukraine) and Yuriy Savenko ( Kherson, Ukraine)
Defenders
Mykola Bilotserkivets (MFC Kherson, Ukraine), Ihor Korsun (MFC Kherson, Ukraine), Vitaliy Radevych (Uragan, Ukraine), Petro Shoturma (MFC Kherson, Ukraine), Yevgen Siryi (MFC HIT Kyiv, Ukraine) and Mykhailo Zvarych (MFC Kherson, Ukraine),
Forwards
Danyil Abakshyn (Uragan, Ukraine), Ihor Chernyavsky (MFC HIT Kyiv, Ukraine), Artem Fareniuk (Uragan, Ukraine), Oleksandr Pediash (MFC HIT Kyiv, Ukraine), Volodymyr Razuvanov (MFC Dynamo Samara, Russia) and Serhiy Zhurba (MFC HIT Kyiv, Ukraine)
PORTUGAL (holders)
Portugal has a rich history in this competition and their success has been continuous. In their first three appearances (1999, 2003, 2005) Portugal did not get out of the groups.
In 2007, it was their turn to host and with the home advantage and support, their fortunes had improved hugely. They ended their group games on the same level of points as Italy but went through as runners-up due to a lower goal difference.
With that record in mind, they had to face the mighty Spanish. A young Ricardinho took the game to Spain but in the end, Portugal lost on penalties. Portugal went on to consequently lose the third-place play-off to Russia but it was the first time the nation saw some success.
In the following tournament, when the Futsal world travelled to Hungary where the seventh edition of the competition was being held at, Portugal went one better. They managed to go all the way to the final but they’d fall short to fifth time winner Spain.
The following three tournaments ended up in similar fashion and the stagnation of their progress seemed to creep in. Put out by Italy in the quarters in 2012, loss to Italy in the semi-finals in 2014 resulting in a fourth place overall after losing to Spain and out to Spain in the quarter-finals in 2016.
In terms of FIFA Futsal World Cups Portugal’s best efforts came in the 2000 edition hosted in Guatemala where they came third and in 2016 in Colombia where they finished fourth overall.
The losing ended there and then and Portugal has risen right to the very top. Currently, they sit in fourth in the Futsal World ranking but it is just a matter of time for them to climb higher and higher.
In the 2018 UEFA Futsal Euro, Portugal breezed through the groups stage beating Romania 4-1 and Ukraine 5-3. They went on to brush Azerbaijan aside with an 8-1 win and Russia with a 3-2 win to reach the final.
It was finally the time for Portugal to take vengeance on a long history of losses to Spain. The match was a tight one and after added extra time Portugal became European champions for the first-time defeating Spain 3-2.
In 2021 in the most recent edition of the FIFA Futsal World Cup, Portugal were one of the teams to beat. Alongside Spain, South American giants Brazil and Argentina, and a few other strong nations, this edition promised to be a competitive one.
After a long wait for their European title, Portugal went on to become World champions, after comfortably beating Morocco, Thailand and Solomon Islands in the group stage. Portugal beat Serbia, Spain and Kazakhstan to reach the final and beat Argentina.
With the euphoria also came a bit of sadness as one of the greatest ever, Ricardinho would represent Portugal for the last time. Anilton César Varela Da Silva, best known as “Pany” absolutely lit up the tournament. Scoring eight goals, he only had a smaller goal tally than Brazilian, Ferrão. With the South American ineligible to play the European tournaments, Pany is the one to watch out for in this Euros.
Futsal Planet nominated him for the “Best Men’s Player in the World” and the talent in this Portuguese squad runs deep. Erick is another nominee for the same award. Zicky Té has also received a nomination for “Best Men’s Young Player in the World”
Enrique Do Carmo is an England under-19 international who has recently been playing for London Escolla in England. In 2019, Enrique was part of the under-19 squad that travelled to play Croatia, Italy and Slovakia in their first ever UEFA competition.
In the build-up of that campaign, they faced Holland, France, Spain and Portugal. Speaking with Enrique he reminisced on his experience facing a young Zicky Té:
“Playing against Zicky with the England under-19s and looking back now, was a huge privilege. He nutmegged me to score a beautiful goal with a back heel. You could tell from that game that he was a serious player. He has proven to everyone that he is, most probably, the best young player in the world.”
Another name to keep in mind is André Coelho who plays his Futsal for FC Barcelona. Coelho had a great 2021 World Cup campaign and also managed to score four goals.
This nation is a serious contender. Being nominated for the “Best Men’s National Team in the World” and coached by Gomez who also received a nomination for “Best Men’s National Team Coach in the World”.
https://twitter.com/selecaoportugal/status/1480194079229202440
The core of this team plays for Sporting CP who are the most recent UEFA Champions League winners but with additions from Benfica, FC Barcelona, Valdepenas, Napoli and Braga the calibre is extremely high.
Due to a last-minute injury, Miguel Ângelo will replaces Cardinal in the Portuguese squad.
Form:
W: 2-1 Argentina (03/10/2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup)
W: 2-2 Kazakhstan (30/09/2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup)
W: 4-2 Spain (27/09/2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup)
W: 4-3 Serbia (24/09/2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup)
D: 3-3 Morocco (19/09/2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup)
Squad List:
Coach
Jorge Gomez Braz
Goalkeepers
André Sousa (SL Benfica, Portugal) and Edu (Viña Albali Valdepeñas, Spain)
Defenders
Fábio Cecílio (SC Braga/AAUM, Portugal), André Coelho (FC Barcelona, Spain), João Matos (Sporting CP, Portugal) and Tomás Paço (Sporting CP, Portugal)
Forwards
Afonso Jesus (SL Benfica, Portugal), Miguel Ângelo (Sporting CP, Portugal), Tiago Brito (SC Braga/AAUM, Portugal), Bruno Coelho (Napoli Futsal, Italy), Erick Mendonça (Sporting CP, Portugal), Pauleta (Sporting CP, Portugal), Zicky Té (Sporting CP, Portugal) and Pany Varela (Sporting CP)
https://twitter.com/selecaoportugal/status/1476601628111294470
Head-to-heads
Serbia vs Portugal
Portugal opens their title defence in Amsterdam against the Serbians. They have beaten Serbia 4-3 in added extra time in the FIFA World Cup last on the 16th of September 2021 in Vilnus, Lithuania. The last time Serbia beat Portugal was a 3-1 win when they were hosts in the UEFA Euro 2016 group stage in Belgrade, Serbia.
Total encounters
Serbia wins 2 (13 goals)
Portugal wins 3 (14 goals)
Draws 0
Netherlands vs Ukraine
Hosts Netherlands will face Ukraine in group A opener. Ukraine beat the Netherlands 4-1 in UEFA Euro 2005 finals on the 17th of February in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Total encounters
Netherlands wins 0 (5 goals)
Ukraine wins 3 (12 goals)
Draws 0
Serbia vs Ukraine
Serbia defeated Ukraine 5-2 in 2020 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Serbia won UEFA Euro 2016 quarter-final 2-1 on the 8th of February in Belgrade, in dramatic style with a goal in the last second. Serbia also won UEFA Euro 2007 group meeting 3-2 on the 21st November in Porto, Portugal.
Total encounters
Serbia wins 2 (10 goals)
Ukraine wins 1 (12 goals)
Draws 0
Portugal vs Netherlands
Holders Portugal play hosts Netherlands in group A on the 23rd of January. Portugal beat the Netherlands 5-0 in UEFA Euro 2014 group stage in Antwerp. This was the last Netherlands’ finals game before 2022.
Total encounters
Portugal wins 1 (5 goals)
Netherlands wins 0 (0 goals)
Draws 0
Ukraine vs Portugal
Ukraine and Portugal will meet in last group A game. Portugal beat Ukraine 5-3 in February 2018, on way to title. Portugal also won UEFA Euro 2014 quarter-finals against Ukraine with a 2-1 win in Antwerp. At half time of this match, the Women’s Euro Futsal draw will be made.
Total encounters
Ukraine wins 2 (20 goals)
Portugal wins 3 (17 goals)
Draws 0
Netherlands vs Serbia
The hosts last game concluding group A is against Serbia. They have last met in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying stage, drawing 3-3.
Total encounters
Netherlands wins 0 (4 goals)
Serbia wins 1 (10 goals)
Draws 2
To be continued…
