Spain know Slovenia made it hard
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Article summary
Relief was the dominant emotion as Spain's coach and players looked back at their opening 4-2 defeat of Slovenia, who were proud of their performance and delighted with their travelling fans.
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![Aicardo (No16) takes the plaudits after putting Spain 2-1 up Aicardo (No16) takes the plaudits after putting Spain 2-1 up](https://editorial.uefa.com/resources/0257-0deedfda47e5-8e01c466ed4b-1000/format/wide1/aicardo_spain_.jpeg?imwidth=158)
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José Venancio López, Spain coach
It was really difficult, but we knew it was going to be this way. We had been talking all week; we had the experience of two matches against Slovenia in October. We knew it was going to be a hard game. They have proven that they are a very good squad, and they can surprise anyone. I think all the matches are going to be like this one, very equal. But we are ready for that, we do well on these occasions.
In the second half we had 15 spectacular minutes, when they didn't cause danger. That's an important thing. We can't let them to get into the match. We don't have [injured] Fernandao, but we have other players. Today we knew that transition was going to be key, and [replacement] Miguelín was great in that aspect.
Álvaro, Spain player
We knew it was going to be a hard match. There were many Slovenian supporters, because they are so close to Zagreb. The first half was really complicated, but in the second half we found the path we want to follow in the championship. The Zagreb Arena is really amazing, it deserves to host a final like this.
Sergio Lozano, Spain player
We knew it was going to be difficult, but we managed to win the match with a very serious attitude. I think we deserved victory. It is going to be close between Slovenia and Ukraine, it will be decided by small details. We have to focus on and only think about Ukraine.
Fernandao is a very important loss for the team, because we could play three back and then Fernandao as a striker. But the players who came in did good things. Luis Amado and Kike are very experienced players that give you the cool heads necessary in these kind of tournaments.
Andrej Dobovičnik, Slovenia coach
We had a great battle against Spain until we ran out of steam. It was evident in the second half the difference in physical preparation. In this respect they are much better. And that is understandable, since they are professionals, compared to our players who go to regular jobs and then training. Getting to 1-1 felt excellent, and I'm glad we resisted very well against the world champions.
It was really nice to see 2,000 Slovenians cheering in the stands. They showed again that futsal in Slovenia is very popular. Perhaps it was the largest group of visiting fans ever at a Futsal EURO.
Alen Fetič, Slovenia goalscorer
It was really hard. Spain, of course, are not world champions by chance. But we were able to keep our focus to go toe to toe with them. They scored a couple of goals because of our mistakes. We have to improve our finishing, too many shots were a long way off target. But to score against the world champions is a really special feeling, I felt awesome.
I had a good feeling before the match with Ukraine because we are really motivated and a good group of friends. The Ukrainians have four top players, while the second four from the bench are a bit weaker.
Igor Osredkar, Slovenia captain
I'm not disappointed. Spain are a really top team. The difference in fitness preparation is very obvious. We had two bad minutes in the second half with a lack of concentration.