Skorovich throws Slovenia some hope

Few would back inexperienced Slovenia to take much from their opening UEFA European Futsal Championship game against Russia, but the latter's coach Sergei Skorovich insisted: "What does being in Budapest favourites mean in futsal? Not much."

Frightening statistics
Winners in 1999, runners-up in 2005 and bronze medalists in the 2007 finals, Russia go into the Group C opener with a fearsome reputation, and have beaten Slovenia in all four of their previous meetings – most recently 2-0 in qualifying last March. The 36-year-old Skorovich, however, feels reputations count for little once the game is under way.

Canny coach
"What does being favourites mean in futsal? Not much," said Skorovich, in his first finals as Russia coach. "You can't take too much notice of who is higher in the rankings table, as in the end it's two teams on the pitch. We take Slovenia very seriously and will play them as if they were the best team in the world. This is a well-organised, disciplined team which defends well and waits for their chance on the counter."

'Big tasks'
Russia go into the opening game with one small regret, the absence of defender Dmitri Prudnikov with a recurring ankle injury. "It is a shame Prudnikov is injured, but we brought 14 players and we will be relying on each of them," said Skorovich.

Absent stars
Slovenia coach Andrej Dobovičnik, meanwhile, must face Russia without the suspended Siniša Brkić, but even greater damage was done before the start of the tournament, with injuries robbing him of regulars Gašper Vrhovec and Rok Mordej. "Of course Brkić will be missed in the first match but the other players have been preparing well," he said. "The biggest problem is that we lost two very good players in the last month.

Cirillo menace
"Our league is an amateur league so we cannot compare with the Russia because they have professional players," added the coach, while captain Benjamin Melink was more preoccupied with the challenge of tangling with the joint top scorer in the 2007 finals. "Cirilo is one of the best players in the world and we know his class so we will not give him much space," said the 27-year-old. "If our defence works together well we will do all we can to stop him."

Hope undiminished
However, regardless of the challenges they face, with Serbia also in the group, Slovenia will not be going into the game half beaten. Dobovičnik said: "None of the teams are useless so we will see how we stand after the first two matches. We don't expect to reach the final but we will try. With the new competition format, winning one match gets you to the next stage, so a small group is better than a bigger group for us."