Hungary make Spain sweat

By Greg Demetriou at the CEZ Arena

World champions Spain were pushed all the way before defeating Hungary in their opening game at the 2005 UEFA European Futsal Championship.

Heroic goalkeeping
After a heroic display by Zoltán Balázs in Hungary's goal, normal service seemed to have been begun when Jordi Torras broke the deadlock for Spain in the 27th minute. But the debutants were quickly level when Simon Balász scored with a sublime volley before Tamás Frank put Hungary in dreamland when his free-kick crashed into the net. However, Javi Rodríguez took over to score two late goals in quick succession and break Hungarian hearts.

Tournament debutants
Spain had made just one change to the squad that went all the way at last December's FIFA Futsal World Championship, welcoming back Daniel after his recovery from a serious knee injury. The Hungarians were making their first appearance at a UEFA European Futsal Championship and few neutral observers gave them a chance of achieving a result.

Early exchanges
Javier Lozano's side were on the offensive from the start, pushing the Hungarians back into their own half. However, Hungary had their moments as well notably when Tamás Lodi forced a great save from Luis Amado to remind the world champions that the game would not be all one-way traffic. Yet Zoltán Balázs was the busier of the two shot-stoppers, and needed to be at his best to deny Kike's effort in the sixth minute.

Man advantage
The Spanish were given a man advantage in the eleventh minute when Zoltán Szabó was booked for his second yellow card in as many minutes. However, Lozano's men could still not find the goal they required with Jordi Torras particularly unlucky from long range.

Superb saves
Kike then hit the bar just after Hungary had successfully seen out their two minutes with four men. Zoltán Balázs continued to be the thorn in Spain's side with save after save. Perhaps his finest of the half came with just over two minutes remaining, as he blocked a shot from Javi Rodríguez on the counterattack.

Quick reply
The goalkeeper's resistance was finally broken when Javier Orol squared a free-kick to Jordi Torras and the stocky No3 scored with a powerful shot. However, the next meaningful action was to come from Hungary when János Madarász's free-kick rebounded to Simon Balász and he made no mistake with a stinging volley.

Time out
Marcelo could have restored the lead almost immediately but hit the post from just centimetres out. It looked to be a costly miss when Tamás Frank's free-kick in the 29th minute went all the way into the net. Lozano called a time out and his words of wisdom worked.

Spanish polish
It was time for Javi Rodríguez, and he showed all his experience to level matters with barely five minutes remaining before putting his side in front with another polished finish. Daniel capped his return to top-class international action with the final goal of the game, and Hungary were left to rue what might have been.

Starting lineup
Hungary: Zoltán Balázs, Szabolcs Tóth, Pál Baranyai, Zoltan Szabo and János Madarász
Spain: Luis Amado, Julio, Javier Orol, Marcelo and Javi Rodríguez