Opening day win for hosts

Italy got their UEFA European Futsal Championship campaign off to a flying start with a hard-fought victory over debutants Slovenia.

Packed crowd
Cheered on by a packed arena in Aversa, the Italians fought back from the shock of conceding an early goal to see off the team making their first appearance in the finals. The Italian hero was Carlos Montovanelli who evaded a defender to score from the left wing. That the winning goal came as early as the 12th minute emphasised the Italian profligacy and Slovenian resilience to come in the remainder of the Group A match.

Angelini on form
Defeat was hard on the Slovenians who had defended stoutly and had seen their goalkeeper Marjan Dermastija perform heroics to keep out wave after wave of attacks. The Italians created a succession of chances but were also vulnerable to the occasional counterattack and had their own goalkeeper Gianfranco Angelini to thank for some timely saves.

Bacaro unlucky
Vinicius Bacaro was particularly menacing for Alessandro Nuccorini's men, with several attempts throughout the contest. He was destined never to score with the post, crossbar, goalkeeper and some last-ditch blocks all standing in the Italian No7's way. Another to be frustrated time and time again was Adriano Foglia, who would have scored the goal of the tournament had an audacious overhead kick come off.

Franzoi injury
Nuccorini was delighted with the win but downbeat with a possible serious leg injury suffered by defender Daverson Franzoi. "I think every match in the championship will be a final," he said. "The most important thing was to win and we achieved this."

Organised at back
The capacity crowd had roared Italy on from the start, leaping to their feet to acclaim Angelini for his acrobatics in turning away a rising shot from Joze Gacnik after just two minutes. Although most of the play was concentrated in Slovenia's half, with Darko Krizman's men turning in a composed and measured rearguard performance, they did threaten on a number of occasions through the likes of Gacnik and Milivoje Simeunovic.

Headed goal
Just as the Italian fans were starting to get impatient for a home goal, Slovenia took the lead against the run of play. Simeunovic supplied Denis Ibrisimovic who crossed for Senudin Dzafic to score with his head from barely a metre after five minutes. The goal shocked the Italians into action and they were level inside a minute. Andrea Vicentini burst along the left wing and fired a low shot under Dermastija.

Similar strike
The winner came six minutes later from a similar position. Montovanelli evaded Denis Delamea's attempts to stop his left-wing run and fired with purpose into the Slovenian goal. The second half was to be characterised by Bacaro's attempts and Foglia's skill along with some Slovenian enterprise.

Late chance
Slovenia could have even snatched a draw late on when, with Simeunovic making up an extra attacker in place of Dermastija, they worked a shooting opportunity for Gacnik. However with 34.7 seconds left on the clock, the No7 fired millimetres wide from distance.