Azzurri aces earn high praise

By Greg Demetriou

Seven changes 
Identifying success at the 2005 finals as an achievable goal for a squad boasting seven changes from the 14 involved in Russia two years ago, the passionate 38-year-old was perhaps seeking to deflect some of the natural pressure on his team as hosts. Italy had reached the last four last time around, only to lose to tonight's foes on a penalty shoot-out.

Superb coaching 
Indeed, before tonight's final, no host nation had triumphed in the competition. However, that statistic changed once Vinicius Bacaro and a tremendous team performance saw off a highly regarded Ukraine team that had been superbly coached by Gennady Lysenchuk. The 1-0 victory was a narrow one, but deserved all the same.

Praise for all
"All the team have been great tonight and their play has been fantastic," said Nuccorini. "I wish to congratulate my staff for the big contribution they made. We conceded just three goals in five games and that gives you the measure of this group of players."

Spirited side 
Futsal is an emotional game, and Nuccorini, who was banned from the sidelines in the semi-final against Spain for his conduct on the bench, typified the spirit within his team. Italian intensity more than anything helped his team to triumph with five wins out of five, including defeats of three of the best teams in Europe: Russia, Spain and now Ukraine.

All-round effort 
While Bacaro will take many of the headlines it is hard to ignore the collective effort of the Italians who made it difficult for the Ukrainians to play their normal fast-paced counterattacking game. From goalkeeper Gianfranco Angelini, through captain Salvatore Zaffiro to forwards Adriano Foglia and Eduardo Morgado, the Italians proved worthy winners.

Speechless shot-stopper 
Angelini said: "I have no words to describe this win. We worked really, really hard." When pressed on his goalkeeping prowess, the burly shot-stopper joked to uefa.com: "I am very strong." He added: "We worked very hard in defence, because we knew in this kind of tournament that it would be very difficult."

More luck 
For Lysenchuk, a second straight defeat in the final of this prestigious competition was naturally difficult to take. "Of course we tried to win," he said. "But we saw substantial quality from Italy and they maybe had a little bit more luck than us. We are not too upset as we lost against a very strong side."

Respect paid 
The smiling coach, who has made many friends in this competition, finished his words with one phrase. "Forza Italia," he said. Not many in the vicinity disagreed.