Italy look good against Ukraine

Italy got the better of fellow UEFA European Futsal Championship finalists Ukraine in two friendlies in Montebelluna.

Leading contenders
These teams will be leading contenders in Porto from 16 to 25 November, Italy having beaten Ukraine both in the 2003 final and in the 2005 third-place play-off to avenge a penalty shoot-out defeat in the 2001 semi-finals. And 4-1 and 5-2 victories on Tuesday and Wednesday nights ensured the Azzurri will travel to Portugal on a high.

Late clinchers
In the first game, Ukraine fielded Vasyl Sukhomlinov in goal but he could not stop Italy taking the lead after three minutes through Marcio Forte, set up by Edgar Bertoni. Carlos Morgado made it two for the Azzurri soon after the break but Ukraine responded immediately through Roman Vakhula. Adriano Foglia and Jocimar Jubanski then sealed the 4-1 win in the last five minutes.

Convincing win
The next day Yevgen Ivanyak kept goal for Ukraine yet he conceded first-half goals to Assad Fabiano and Anderson Pellegrini before Oleksandr Khursov pulled one back before half-time. The Azzurri subsequently dominated the second half with Foglia, Nando Grana and Forte extending the advantage before Andriy Fedyuk's consolation.

'Played well'
"We played well in both games," Italy coach Alessandro Nuccorini said. "I liked the quality of our play and I got some useful indicators for the finals in Portugal. Unfortunately, we will not have much time to prepare for the finals, just a week, but we will try to make the best of it. I'm happy if somebody sees us as favourites but we never care much about predictions. We know we have to prove our strength on the pitch."

Useful information
His side are in Group A action in the Championship's opening game against hosts Portugal, while 24 hours later, in Group B, Ukraine play holders Spain. Their coach Gennadiy Lysenchuk remains upbeat despite the losses. "In these friendlies against the Azzurri, we have continued to experiment by fielding various combinations of players", he said. "Yes, we lost two games but we also found answers to many important questions. Now we will analyse this information to get ready for the finals in the best possible way."