Robinho leads Russia celebrations after classic
Thursday, February 6, 2014
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Match winner Robinho, coach Sergei Skorovich and Sergei Sergeev basked in Russia's extra-time semi-final defeat of Spain in what both sides considered one of futsal's greatest games.
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Sergei Skorovich, Russia coach
Both teams fought until the end. Our opponents prevented us from doing many of the things that we planned to do and there was strong tension throughout the match. You should be especially delighted you beat Spain. We respect them and what they did for European futsal
We have done a lot to get where we are now. It is very nice, but the biggest match of the tournament is on Saturday [in the final against Italy]. We came here to play in the final, we came to win the final.
The scoreboard says everything. We managed to find the key to open Spain. It wasn't about getting revenge, that would be bad. It was definitely very sad to lose against them in the last final. We did a lot of work to become stronger. We have many futsal fans in Russia. I would like to use this chance and thank all of them. We feel their support and we know that we have been followed by our nation. The Winter Olympic Games start tomorrow, but today was the day of futsal.
Robinho, Russia forward
It's a beautiful moment, I'm very happy. We needed this win, we needed to win very, very badly. We have had many matches against Spain, but haven't been able to win. We created many chances today, scored many goals. We fought until the very end. Everything is just great!
No, I'm not a hero. All of us are heroes. [Aleksandr] Fukin, who scored too ... In general, all of us. I just converted my chance. Of course, it is very nice. The whole team are the heroes. It's a victory!
We made a mistake in defence at the end of the second half and they equalised, made it 3-3. We saw that a bit of time was left and decided to wait for extra time. We didn't want to hurry up – it was better to wait and play ten minutes more.
We had the last EURO final against Spain, conceding at the end of normal time. Spain won that European Championship, they have won many EUROs. All the time just Spain, Spain and Spain. It was very important to win tonight. It is a clear highlight in the history of the Russia team.
We fought until the end. Now we need to become champions. Probably, we just played one of the best matches in the history of futsal. We have a great team, everybody knows that. We have been at the top of the game many years, we have played many great matches, but still couldn't win major trophies. We have a great team.
Sergei Sergeev, Russia defender
The fans were happy to watch this match, which consisted of many exciting moments. We will feel heroes ourselves if we win the European Championship. We need to take that last step, which is usually the hardest one. The atmosphere in our dressing room was just incredible. We are very happy. We have met Spain many times, but each time we lacked something small. We have had draws, we have lost in extra time, we have lost on penalties.
We haven't had any kind of 'Spain-phobia', but it's still very nice that we finally managed to beat them. It's very nice to play against them, but if you beat them it brings you double pleasure. I would underline that it's the whole team's success, not of just some individuals.
José Venancio López, Spain coach
Sooner or later a defeat would arrive. It is the first time that Russia have beaten us. That gives it added value after all these years. Imagine how hard it is, so it shows just what we have achieved over the years. We often don't stop to think about that until we lose a game, as was the case tonight.
It was a great game, great for the viewer, you couldn't want any more. I'm also happy because we've seen two teams that have wanted to play good futsal and this enhances our sport. People in the arena and on television have enjoyed a great show. It has been a long time since I saw a match like this one.
The two goals we conceded [at the start of the second half] were so fast. The first was a spectacular goal and you can't do anything about that. I had studied them and knew he would shoot from there, but we didn't expect such a powerful shot from Sergeev. Then they scored the second one on another set piece. That was crucial because from there we lost control. However, we equalised twice. We were close to scoring in extra time and they didn't miss the only chance they had.
Miguelín, Spain forward
In the first half we were all over them like an avalanche and played a pretty perfect match. It is true that in the opening minutes of the second half they were better. As time was going on in the second half we picked up the pace. We didn't win and we leave the arena very sad. We have to lift our heads and fight for third place [against Portugal].
It is true that now, right after the match, you think too much because we were really close to getting to the final. We thought we were going to win, but it was not to be. Now we must be more united than ever and try to get third place.
Rafa, Spain goalkeeper
It is a hard day. When you set yourself a target like winning the European Championship, as this team always does, to fall in the semis is a very big blow. But we've fallen with pride – we've given everything.
We played a great first half; in the second we were not so good. And then in extra time we were good too. Let's congratulate the Russians because they have beaten us, but I don't think they were better than us over 50 minutes.
When we studied the tournament we knew we could play in semis against them and that it would be very hard. They have been playing together for years. They have 12 very complete players. They played a great game and little details were decisive.