Nothing to split futsal finalists

Irresistible force meets immovable object. A well-worn phrase, to put it mildly, but an appropriate summary of Sunday's UEFA European Futsal Championship final in Porto between Spain and Italy.

World champions
Spain have proved difficult to resist in recent years, and they are aiming to retain their European title just as they defended the FIFA Futsal World Cup in 2004. But then the Azzurri are the only team ever to beat Spain over 40 minutes in the history of this competition, winning 2-1 in the 2003 semi-finals on their way to taking the title and repeating the trick 3-1 in the group stage two years ago. Spain, though, were to wrest back the crown after Italy lost in the last four to Russia, the very team they defeated on Friday night 2-0 to reach the final.

Clean sheets
That was Italy's third clean sheet in Porto, a new record for the European finals, the only goal they let in was during their joint-tournament best 7-1 defeat of Romania. "Italy have a very strong defence," Spain coach José Venancio told uefa.com. "They have only conceded one goal in four games. That says it all about their defence. We know that if we want to win this championship there will be some tough periods. It won't be easy."

Comeback
But then Venancio has already had his share of suffering in his first tournament since succeeding three-time European champion coach Javier Lozano in September. Spain's hopes of reaching the semi-finals with a game to spare were dashed by a late Serbia equaliser and in the last four they trailed 2-0 to hosts Portugal with only five minutes remaining before coming back and prevailing on penalties. "We are very happy to be in the final, especially because we have reached it by overcoming an extremely difficult situation, which has given us a great feeling," Venancio said.

Reigning champions
His opposite number Alessandro Nuccorini has seen plenty of Spain over his ten years in charge, and is more than happy to be taking them on again. "It's a great honour to play against Spain, the champions," he said. "On Friday they proved their status, coming back from two goals behind to show their spirit. I want to thank my players for reaching the final. It's already a great achievement being here and we'll try to go a bit further."

Flawless