Spanish style key for Lozano

There was one team that their fellow UEFA European Futsal Championship qualifiers were hoping to avoid in Saturday's final draw in Porto - Javier Lozano's Spain.

Global power
The dominant force in the small-sided game, Spain won the last European tournament in 2005, to add to the FIFA Futsal World Cup they had successfully defended a few months before. Under Lozano, appointed in 1992, they have come out on top in three of the five continental championships first organised by UEFA in 1996, and under the 46-year-old they have eclipsed Brazil as the major global power.

Ready for battle
Spain cruised into November's European finals in Porto with typical ease earlier in the year, and Lozano is in a competitive frame of mind, his team unbeaten since December 2005 and fresh from winning a strong friendly tournament in Russia, who they beat in the last EURO final. "I'm getting more and more excited, especially with the draw," Lozano told uefa.com "Let's say I'm putting the bullfighter's costume on!"

Spanish style
So how has he been able to lift Spain above the likes of Russia, Ukraine - both of whom they will definitely meet in Porto - and Portugal, not to mention the South Americans? "I think it's because we've found our own style," said Lozano, himself a futsal international in the 1980s. "Spain started by imitating Brazil and we never stopped being anything more than a photocopy, a good one, but a photocopy is never better than the original. In the end what we did was create: take the best of Brazil, the best from other sports and add Spanish character...A Spanish player individually might not be superior to another, but when he plays alongside others, collectively they are. Why? Because there's a style and I think that's what gives us that bit extra. If you watch Russia, they have a great squad and better individual players but then, as a team, it's another story. The difference is from their shoulders upwards. "

Competition
Although the UEFA Futsal Cup for clubs last month left Spain for only the second time as it was won by MFK Dinamo Moskva, few doubt that the Spanish league is the strongest in the game and even challenging other sports for popularity. "We're aware of how much it has grown," Lozano said "But we're ambitious and we want more because we need more. Nowadays, with competition with other sports, if you don't grow you go down. When I used to play, it was futsal in black and white. The change has been great in a short time. "

More goals
The result is a more attacking brand of futsal. "There have been times when it was getting boring because it was control futsal," Lozano said. "Now it's starting to open up and change mentality. Coaches usually are the ones who set the trend. Now it doesn't matter if you concede six goals because we are better at attacking. It doesn't matter if you concede because you know you're going to score. Matches have started to open up and the dynamics are changing."