Venancio wary of 'talented' Serbia

UEFA European Futsal Championship holders Spain proved they are again the team to beat in this competition with their opening 6-2 win against Ukraine – yet their coach José Venancio is wary of "talented" Serbia in their second Group B match on Monday in Porto.

Satisfaction
Spain did not have things all their own way against Ukraine as a two-goal lead disappeared and Javi Eseverri was sent off, but they still managed four unanswered goals thereafter. Victory against Serbia, who lost 5-3 to Russia on Saturday, could be enough for a semi-final place. "I'm very satisfied with my players so far," Venancio told uefa.com. "We played well against Ukraine. We managed to resolve difficult situations on two occasions – when we had a player sent off and when they came back to 2-2."

Serbian talent
He added: "This was the first step but there are still four more to go. Now we have to focus on Serbia, who could be the surprise package of this championship. They have a very talented team. They have improved both technically and tactically and they have Marko Perić, who is one of the best players in the tournament. It is difficult to defend against them as they are unpredictable. They are very good in one-on-one situations. It will be more complicated and we will have to defend well."

World's best
Serbia coach Aca Kovačević saw his team come from two goals behind against 2005 runners-up Russia to get to 3-3, only to then slip up in their first finals game in eight years. It will not be any easier against the side that beat Russia in the last final. "What can we say about Spain except they are one of the best teams in the world, the world champions," Kovačević said. "They play very well in defence, thanks to the work of former coach Javier Lozano, and they are continuing in the same way under the new coach."

Strength-in-depth
Kovačević's biggest concern is the strength-in-depth of his squad compared to their opponents, something he thinks was decisive on Saturday. "One of our problems was that we only had six or seven players who could play at the level of the Russians, and they could not play for the whole game, so when we changed things it gave Russia a chance," he said. "For that reason, Spain and Russia are better than the rest because they have 12 or 14 players of the same standard. We know it will be very hard but we will do our best – if we play better than against Russia, maybe we have a chance."