Romania

Romania were latecomers to the game, the national team only founded in 2003, but within three years they had qualified for their first UEFA European Futsal Championship and in Croatia they will be back with a team familiar from 2007 in Portugal, where they performed excellently to finish third in their group. Players such as Florin Robert Matei, Robert Lupu, Cosmin Gherman, Gabriel Dobre, Ion Al-Ioanei, Marian Şotârcă, Csoma Alpar and Dumitru Mimi Stoica have been in the national team since the early days and have also been together at club level, first with FC CIP Deva and more recently City'Us Târgu Mureş, in both cases under national coaches Zoltán Jakab and then Sito Rivera.

Having surprisingly qualified in dramatic style in 2007, they narrowly missed out on UEFA Futsal EURO 2010 and the 2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup. However, they showed their spirit in the most recent qualifying mini-tournament in February. At home in Targu Mires, Romania lost their first game to Slovakia but pulled together to earn a deserved finals spot.

Qualifying round: Slovakia 5-6, Norway 3-1, Czech Republic 1-0 (Group 4 runners-up)

Key players
Florin Robert Matei, Robert Lupu, Cosmin Gherman

Coach: Tomás 'Sito' Rivera

Date of Birth: 15 March 1956
Playing career: UE Mataró, FS Vilassar de Mar
Coaching career: FS Vilassar de Mar, Catalonia (youth), Gavá FS (twice), Martorell FS (twice), Cartagena FS, Martorell FS, Bardral Urayasu, SSC Napoli Futsal Under-21, FC CIP Deva, Romania, Luparense C/5, City'Us Târgu Mureş

Luparense appointed a coach with more than 20 years' experience when they turned to Rivera in January 2010. Born close to Barcelona, he spent nine years playing for local club UE Mataró before joining FS Vilassar de Mar, where he first became a coach in 1987. He left Vilassar de Mar in 1995, having also trained the Catalonia youth team in 1992, and after three years at Gavá had spells at top-flight sides Martorell and Cartagena.

In 2007 Rivera took charge of Bardral Urayasu, leading them to the All-Japan Championship and also had a spell in Italy with the Napoli Under-21 squad before his summer 2009 appointment to coach both Romanian champions FC CIP Deva and that country's national team. Took charge at Italian side Luparense C/5 in 2010, coaching them in that year's UEFA Futsal Cup finals, and also had a spell at Târgu Mureş, all the while retaining his Romania national role, with whom he achieved UEFA Futsal EURO 2012 qualification.

Qualifying top scorer
Cosmin Gherman 3

Tournament record
2010: Did not qualify
2007: Group stage
2005: Did not qualify
2003: Did not enter
2001: Did not enter
1999: Did not enter
1996: Did not enter