Lozano pleased and proud

Spain coach Javier Lozano paid tribute to Russia in celebrating his side's 2-1 success in the 2005 UEFA European Futsal Championship final and joined his counterpart Oleg Ivanov in looking to the future.

Javier Lozano, Spain coach
I want to mention one player, Pipe, who is not here from the world championships [in November] because of injury. This success is dedicated to him. Talking about today’s match, it was a great game. You don't just have to play these games, you have to win. We were up against a team of the future, a young team with tremendous technical skill. We have to congratulate them. We have been in a match today right up until the last few seconds.

[On the future] Little by little, we will begin rebuilding the team. We will start in April with our next matches because many of the players will not make it to the 2007 European Championship.

Andreu, Spain goalscorer
I am very happy to have scored such an important goal. But it makes me twice as happy to have scored a such goal in a match we have won.

Oleg Ivanov, Russia coach
First of all I would like to congratulate Javier Lozano with the win and the European title. I would like to stress that it is pleasant for us to be among the leading teams in Europe. In this group, Spain and Italy have been dominating for the last few years. We knew the Spain team was very mobile and technically sound. They have had the same squad for a few years. We tried to neutralise Javi Rodríguez but the Spanish team was too strong for us. The first goal was a decisive moment.

Today, we not only tried to play on the counterattack but also to attack them. The main thing is we have many new players which don’t have enough international experience. In principle, I am pleased with the performance of my team. I have no complaints of anybody. Once again I congratulate Javier Lozano.

Mikhail Markin, Russia captain
We are sad that we could not win the last match but the silver medal is a great success for us. We were very pleased to participate in such an event.