Romania ready for finals debut

The moment has arrived for Romania as they take on the Czech Republic in their first-ever UEFA European Futsal Championship finals match.

New faces
It is not an easy start for Romania, as the Czechs reached the 2003 semi-finals and were hosts two years ago, and it does not get any better with hosts Portugal and former champions Italy also in Group A. But coach Zoltán Jakab has been in charge of Romania for almost all of their four-year existence as a futsal nation, and is happy his side have their chance. "We are very young in terms of futsal as we only started to play at this level in 2003," Jakab said. "We hope to play well against these three brilliant teams. We want to impress in Portugal."

Important test
But can Romania upset the odds and progress to the last four? This game holds the key, the coach believes. "The first match is always the most important one," said Jakab, who also coaches most of his players at national champions CIP Deva. "Romania and the Czech Republic are two teams of roughly the same standard. It is important for us to win, as it will give us hope against Portugal and Italy. If we do not win, it will be difficult."

Filinger suspended
Czech Republic coach Tomáš Neumann has picked a young squad but will have only 13 players from which to choose his dozen to face Romania – David Filinger has been included in his selection despite being suspended for all three group fixtures. Still, brothers Roman and Michal Mareš provide experience and Neumann, in his first major tournament at the helm, is optimistic.

Good result 'vital'
"I believe we have what it takes to advance from the group stage and if that happens, I will be very happy," he said. "I hope it will be an exciting tournament and that a lot of people will come and see the matches. In this kind of event the first match is always the most important – it's vital to start with a good result. However, Romania have a great squad and it will be a very difficult match for us."