Blazej leaves Czechs celebrating

Spectacular goal 
With little more than a minute left in Aversa, Blazej scored a sensational goal to light up the opening day of the UEFA European Futsal Championship. A lofted pass to the right wing found Blazej with little room and Viatcheslav Moskalenko closing him down. However, Blazej trapped the ball and in the next movement jinked to his right, a piece of skill that outwitted Moskalenko and left him on the floor. A second later, the ball had flashed beyond Serguei Zouev in the Russian goal.

Brothers in arms 
Although Blazej, who had earlier hinted at the brilliance to come with a mazy run that left two Russian defenders floundering, took the goalscoring glory, the Mareš brothers also deserve praise in their efforts for the Czechs. Roman Mares was a defensive rock, while the younger Michal was a livewire in attack. The pair play in Russia and needed no motivation for the Group A opener.

Czech commitment 
Roman Mareš summed up the Czech commitment with two contrasting interventions in the 25th minute. The first was a sublime flick with the outside of the foot that freed Martin Dlouhý on the left-hand side that allowed the No7 to run on and score with ease. Then, 20 seconds later, the Russians looked certain to equalise as the ball fell free in the Czech penalty area. No sooner had the chance arisen though, than Roman Mareš had flung himself in the way. The challenge earned him a whack on the knee and put him out of the game but it was a vital block.

End to end 
The Russians were considered one of the favourites for this tournament and did show their class when Serguei Ivanov equalised from close range two minutes later. Evgeny Lovchev's men were back in the match and the rest of the game was to prove an end-to-end encounter.

Chances to win 
Neither side seemed happy to settle for a point, preferring to gamble on attack. Both teams had chances to score with Igor Nikolaev and Dmitri Gorin for the Russians and Michal Mareš for the Czechs looking particularly lively. In the end it was Blazej who found the way through and set his team up for a mouthwatering tie with hosts Italy on Tuesday.

Happy with win 
A delighted Czech coach Michal Stríz said: "This is just the first step because our main goal is to reach the semi-finals. We are happy to win because Russia is a favourite in this competition."