Lysenchuk sets new goal in victory
Thursday, January 21, 2010
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Ukraine coach Gennadiy Lysenchuk was happy with the 4-2 victory over Belgium that took his team through but not failure to overtake Italy in Group B, as Benny Meurs praised his eliminated side's spirit in defeat.
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Ukraine coach Gennadiy Lysenchuk set his team "two tasks" against Belgium: to win and secure a UEFA European Futsal Championship quarter-final berth at their opponents' expense and to overtake Group B leaders Italy on goal difference.
Second task
The 4-2 result was enough for the first of those, but they needed a victory by a four-goal margin to move ahead of the Azzurri, meaning they must beat them on Saturday to avoid having to travel to Budapest for a last-eight meeting with Group A winners Azerbaijan. "We had two tasks today – the first to win and the second to win by more than Italy," Lysenchuk said. "The second didn't come off because the lads were too nervous and excited. But we played very well and I congratulated them on their performance. But I told them that now they have to beat Italy – that is the plan. That isn't because we are afraid of Azerbaijan, but because we always play to win."
Getting settled
After a difficult first eleven minutes, Valeriy Zamyatin settled Ukraine's nerves with a flick of his heel to open the scoring. "We did not start well, just as any other team at the tournament," he told uefa.com. "We needed time to become accustomed to the pitch and the fast ball. Despite the fact we did not put on our best performance, we played well in general. When we were 3-1 up at half-time we were speaking in the dressing room about winning by enough to only have to draw with Italy. Unfortunately, we did not succeed."
Improvement
Belgium's first finals campaign in seven years is now over but coach Benny Meurs had the consolation of an improved performance from the previous 4-0 loss to Italy. "We started full of confidence, we knew we could do better than against Italy and we proved we could," he said. "To be honest we deserve a bit more than this second loss. Not necessarily a win but a draw would have been logical.
Spirit
"It is a pity, especially for the players, as this is one chance we may never get again to improve ourselves, that's why it is such a pity that we have to leave. But I can only congratulate my players that they went for it until the last second. We gave all we had – tactical play, individual play, playing with a flying goalkeeper – and we even scored in the last minute so they kept going until the end to achieve that small goal."