Returning Ippoliti aims for repeat win

While Italy's 2003 UEFA European Futsal Championship-winning squad had a Brazilian tinge, former AS Roma youth footballer Luca Ippoliti indeed hailed from the capital. He then disappeared from the squad, but in October he made his comeback and is aiming for a repeat triumph when the finals begin on Tuesday in Hungary.

Comeback
Ippoliti was 23 when Italy took the title on home soil seven years ago but he was subsequently absent from Alessandro Nuccorini's selection. Things changed a last year when Roberto Menichelli succeeded Nuccorini as coach and on 27 October the TSC Lazio captain played in the friendly against Belarus for only his 15th cap.

Pride
"When Roberto arrived, I hoped to be recalled," Ippoliti told uefa.com. "There was mutual understanding and a reconciliation, about which I'm obviously very happy. It is for sure a great satisfaction to come back to the national team; it demonstrates that I wasn't out of the squad because I didn't deserve it but for other reasons. The vote of confidence received from the coach makes me very proud and I hope to repay it."

Experience
On Tuesday, Ippoliti is set to make his first appearance in a European Championship game since the 2-1 2003 semi-final defeat of Spain – he missed the final against Ukraine through illness - when Italy take on Belgium in their Group B opener in Debrecen, and the 30-year-old knows many eyes are upon him. "After many years of absence, it is natural that everybody looks to my return and that I must demonstrate something," he said. "Since the 2003 European Championship, I have acquired experience, I have matured with all the championships and the competitions I have played. I expect to play at top level at the European Championship, the most important thing for me is to exit from the pitch with my shirt dripping with sweat after giving my all."

Memories
Italy's 2003 triumph was their breakthrough in the sport; since then they have been runners-up to Spain in the 2004 FIFA Futsal World Cup and 2007 EURO, and they also took bronze in the 2008 global event. "When we won the European Championship we formed a great squad," Ippoliti said. "I don't know how it happened, since the national team gatherings lasted just a few days, but we were stronger than any opponents we met. All of us on the pitch were ready to sacrifice ourselves for the team."

Winning mentality
Whereas previous finals have begun with two groups of four teams, in the extended 12-strong competition, each section has only three nations. "With this formula you are not allowed to make mistakes," Ippoliti said. "Belgium and Ukraine must be faced with concentration and courage, also because we will have many young players in our team." But his aim is to lift the trophy on 29 January, and appear in the final after missing out in 2003. "You always have to aim to win," he added. "You must have a winning mentality, we can't come to Hungary thinking for example that second place would be our best possible result. We will try to go all the way."