Ukraine Looks to Return to Futsal Forefront as EURO Championships Begin

Once one of the dominant teams in the world, the Ukrainian national futsal team has high hopes for a return to the medal round at the UEFA Euro Futsal Championships that begin tonight in the Netherlands.

Semi-finals or bust.

Ukraine has its hopes set high as the UEFA Euro Futsal Championships begin tonight with Ukraine taking on host Netherlands at 21.30 EET.

“Expectations from the tournament are very high. The Euros are [only] held every four years, so expectations are very high for the team and each player,” captain Petro Shoturma told the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF).

“We are ready to demonstrate our quality and achieve the best results.“

Futsal, for the uninitiated, is the official indoor version of football. Teams are run by football federations, and, like football, the sport is governed by FIFA worldwide and UEFA in Europe. The FIFA Futsal World Cup takes place one year after the football World Cup and the UEFA Futsal EUROs take place the year after the football EUROs.

Ukraine was a pioneering futsal nation and has appeared in 11 of the 12 European championships, including as one of just six nations to be invited to the premiere event in 1996.

Those were the golden years for Ukraine, who made the World Cup finals later that year and then went on a run to the Euro Championships semifinals three straight times between 2001 and 2005. Ukraine nearly became European champions twice, losing finals in heartbreaking fashion to Spain on penalties in 2001 and 1-0 to Italy in 2003.

Fortunes haven’t been so kind since.

While making it out of the group stage at the last five European championships, Ukraine has floundered at the quarterfinal each time, losing to Azerbaijan, Croatia, Portugal, Serbia, and Spain.

Spain has been dominant at the event, making the finals in 9 of the 11 events and winning 7 titles. Portugal has since emerged as the top team in the world, clipping Spain 3-2 in a thrilling 2018 extra time final and winning its first World Cup title last year in Lithuania.

Both teams are favourites again this year, with Ukraine facing the reigning world champions in the group stage on January 28.

Tricky group stage

Ukraine looked strong in qualifying, finishing as the second-best runner-up team after losing both games to No. 8-ranked Croatia. Still, the team showed they could play with some of Europe’s best, only losing 3-2 away to favoured Croatia in a game they led much of the way.

Ukraine was drawn into an intriguing Group A against host Netherlands, world champions Portugal, and No. 15-ranked Serbia. Ukraine is ranked No. 12 in the world.

The blue-and-yellows face a stern test against the hosts to kick off the tournament tonight at 21.30.

On paper, Ukraine should be able to handle the No.36-ranked hosts, who have never beaten Ukraine in three previous matches, but coach Oleksandr Kosenko isn’t taking anything for granted.

“This team is technical, fast, and actively presses,” he said about tonight’s opponents. “We need to look for options for how to counterattack … Every team has weaknesses – even the strongest.”

Captain Shoturma agrees that the opening match could be tricky but focused on the positives.

“Everything is unpredictable, because a team that plays at home always looks more confident than the away team,” he told the UAF. “The only thing that helps us is that they will have less support from fans because of the absence of spectators.”

 Even though Ukraine faces world champion Portugal in the opening group stage, Shoturma believes the group is wide open. Only the top two teams advance to the playoffs.

“I do not think that Portugal is the favourite,” he told the FFU.

“We watched the friendly match between the Dutch and Portuguese and the Dutch team played them evenly from the first to the last minute … I think all [our] opponents will be equally difficult.”

Where to watch

After tonight’s game, Ukraine faces Serbia on January 23 at 15.30 EET. Ukraine has fared well against its Slavic opponents, dropping both games including the Euro 2016 quarterfinal.

Ukraine’s final group stage game against Portugal is set for January 28 at 21.30 EET. Ukraine hasn’t beaten the world champions since 2003, a memorable 7-4 win that saw superstar Serhiy Koridze score five times – a European championship record that still stands.

The top two teams in each division qualify for the quarterfinals, which will begin on January 31. The final, should Ukraine qualify, will be held on Feb. 6 at 18.30 EET.

Ukrainians can watch the games on TRBC Ukraine – including Football 1, Football 2, and Oll.tv – or on the UEFA.tv YouTube channel.

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