UEFA Futsal EURO final preview: Portugal vs Russia | Futsal EURO

Either Portugal or Russia will become only the third nation to win multiple UEFA Futsal EURO titles when they face off in Sunday’s final at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome.

Portugal are aiming to retain the trophy they won in 2018, having since added the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup. Russia’s sole honour came in 1999, since then they have lost four finals, plus another in the 2016 World Cup. Both teams have won all five of their matches so far in the first 16-team final tournament.

Key stats

• Both these sides are aiming to join Italy on two titles: Russia’s victory was in 1999 and Portugal in the last edition of 2018. All the other seven editions were won by Spain.
• Russia are in their seventh final, only Spain (9) have reached more. Portugal are in their third final, equal with Italy and one ahead of Ukraine, the only other side to have got that far.
• This will be Russia coach Sergei Skorovich’s 50th Futsal EURO game (including qualifying), a mark only previously reached by Ukraine’s Gennadiy Lysenchuk (53). Skorovich’s 38 wins are a record having overtaken José Venancio López during these finals.
• Portugal are unbeaten in 32 competitive games since a penalty shoot-out loss to Iran for 2016 World Cup third place, and 33 over 40 minutes since the last-four loss to Argentina at that tournament. They have won ten Futsal EURO finals games in a row.
• Russia have won all 11 games in their campaign, including qualifying, a single-edition record.
• Portugal are aiming for their 100th competitive win, in their 151st such game.

View from the camps

Jorge Braz, Portugal coach: “Everybody is OK. I always joke about these kind of matches – injuries don’t exist in a final! [Russia’s] level is really high, extraordinary players with a lot of different abilities, that can meet all the kind of demands that a futsal match requires. Sergei [Skorovich] is a coach with a lot of experience and most of all a gentleman! We have known each other for many years and we always exchange vodka from him and port from me! It’s a great honour to play Russia in the final.”

Tiago Brito, Portugal player: “We had a good game against Spain, we want another against Russia. It shows the strength of our team, to be able to come from behind so often, I hope we don’t need to do that in the final, we need to show our strengths. They are a very good team with very good players, one of the best in Europe and the world. It is a very difficult game for us but we are a very strong team and I hope we can win.”

Sergei Skorovich, Russia coach: “The team are in good condition, good emotional shape. We had a difficult semi-final but we have positive emotions, they give you energy. Portugal’s trophies say it all. They are European champions, World Cup winners, they are the strongest team in the world right now. We can talk about tactics or whatever but you have to understand they are the top team and to beat them on Sunday we must be at our best. I have known Jorge Braz for a very long time and our relations are very warm. I am proud to know him and I am very glad that he has managed to win major tournaments. I like that his team always try to play very interesting futsal, fast and aggressive.”

Ivan Milovanov, Russia player: “Portugal are of course a very strong team, they are world and European champions. We have played a lot of matches against them, competitive matches and friendlies, we know each other very well. Preparation is very important. Now we are ready to take the final step. All these years we have worked hard and analysed our mistakes and our team have become better and stronger. Our goal is to get this trophy, we are ready for this the game will show who is stronger.”

Meet the teams

Road to the final

All Russia’s Futsal EURO 2022 goals so far

PORTUGAL

Group A winners: Serbia W4-2 (Amsterdam), Netherlands W4-1 (Amsterdam), Ukraine W1-0 (Groningen)

Quarter-final: Finland W3-2 (Amsterdam)

Semi-final: Spain W3-2 (Amsterdam)

RUSSIA

Group C winners: Slovakia W7-1 (Amsterdam), Croatia W4-0 (Amsterdam), Poland W5-1 (Amsterdam)

Quarter-final: Georgia W3-1 (Amsterdam)

Semi-final: Ukraine W3-2 (Amsterdam)