Venancio López hails new high

Spain set high standards in futsal but after their 6-1 defeat of Portugal on Sunday night coach José Venancio López suggested they are improving even further.

Second win
On Wednesday, holders Spain opened the UEFA European Futsal Championship with a finals record 9-1 win against Belarus, who two nights later held Portugal 5-5. Spain trailed their neighbours early on in Debrecen but were ahead by half-time and by the end had produced their biggest win against Portugal since 1997.

For the fans
"Just like four days ago, we had a great match," Venancio López told uefa.com. "This is very difficult to achieve. The final result is maybe more than the current difference between Portugal and Spain. We can't deny that we played better today, we were able to set a very high pace. We not only try to win, but we also try to help develop this sport and also to make it nice for the fans."

Nerves overcome
Venancio López, whose team face old rivals Russia in the quarter-finals in Debrecen on Sunday, pointed out that Spain did not have everything their own way. "The first half was quite even, because they opened the scoring with their first chance," he said. "That made is nervous and unsettled our play, we rushed things. We then had great second half. We played much better than them. We created many chances and hence the scoreline."

Heavy defeat
Despite the loss Portugal went through to the quarter-finals on goal difference ahead of Belarus and travel to Budapest to play Serbia. Defender Gonçalo Alves said: "We managed to go though to the quarter-finals, which was the most important thing, but of course we are not happy with the outcome of this match. Nowadays Portugal shouldn't lose 6-1 against Spain. Maybe that happened ten years ago but not now. We played several games against them in recent years and never with this kind of result. That said, the strongest feeling right now is sadness with just a bit of satisfaction due to the fact we qualified."

Set-play slips
Coach Orlando Duarte mused: "We thought we were ready for Spain's set plays, but we made mistakes that you shouldn't make at this level. At a corner, a player left the pitch to be substituted, you should never do that. Our worst moment was after we went 4-1 down, we don't usually concede goals from 15 metres, but at that stage we lost concentration, and at this level it costs you." But he added: "Maybe we can reach the final and play Spain, then it would be a different story."