UEFA Futsal EURO final highlights: Portugal beat Russia to retain title with comeback

Portugal have retained the UEFA Futsal EURO title after recovering from two goals down to beat Russia 4-2 in the 2022 final – their third comeback from a 2-0 deficit at the tournament in Amsterdam.

Russia went into the decider still missing Robinho but welcomed back five-goal Artem Antoshkin after his semi-final suspension, and he was a threat from the start. It was Anton Sokolov who hit the opener, though, as he received a Paulinho long ball with his back to goal, turned and sent a shot under the unsighted André Sousa to join Antoshkin and Ivan Chishkala on five for the finals – two behind top scorer Birzhan Orazov of Kazakhstan.

Antoshkin was the creator of the second, showing skills down the left and sending in a perfect ball for Andrei Afanasyev to finish. However, Portugal began their fightback less than two minutes before the break, when Tomás Paço caught out Dmitri Putilov with a low shot after a Bruno Coelho kick-in.

That gave the holders hope, as did their record of having already come back twice from 2-0 down to win games here at the Ziggo Dome, including in Friday's semi-final against Spain. And although Russia started the second half strongly, Nando hitting the post, once again Portugal showed their comeback chops as André Coelho's driven kick-in deflected in off the leg of the luckless Putilov.

André Coelho made it 3-2 as he got to the far post and turned the ball in after Miguel Ângelo had sent a low cross from the left through the legs of a Russia defender. Sergei Abramov hit the post as Russia gave their all, but they suffered their fifth Futsal EURO final defeat since their sole victory of 1999, the result confirmed when Pany Varela dispossessed Ivan Chishkala and dribbled the ball into an empty net in the closing seconds.

Key stats

• Portugal have drawn level with Italy on two titles, behind only Spain on seven. Russia are the sole other champions.
• Portugal are only the second nation after Spain (in 2007, 2010 and 2012) to retain the title, and have matched their neighbours in winning three major tournaments in a row (after Futsal EURO 2018 and the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup).
• André Sousa, Bruno Coelho, André Coelho, João Matos, Fábio Cecílio, Pany and Tiago Brito are all European champions for the second time, as is coach Jorge Braz.
• Sergei Abramov and Ivan Milovanov, as well as Russia coach Sergei Skorovich, have suffered their fourth final losses.
• Portugal also came back from 2-0 down to win here against Serbia in the opening game (4-2) and Spain in Friday's semi-final (3-2).
• Portugal are unbeaten in 33 competitive games since a penalty shoot-out loss to Iran for third place at the 2016 World Cup, and in 34 over 40 minutes since their last-four loss to Argentina at that tournament.

Reaction

Jorge Braz enjoys the victoryUEFA via Getty Images

Jorge Braz, Portugal coach: "I am very proud of all the work, very proud to see again the perfect example of how a team should be, and very proud to look into the eyes of our players, especially in the second half. Our players believed; that’s what makes me most proud."

Zicky Té, Player of the Tournament: "It's hard to put in words what I'm feeling right now and all I can say is that I'm in heaven! I'm so proud of this team and I want to thank every single person who helped us to reach this moment."

João Matos, Portugal captain: "What changed in the second half was our intensity and the way we were able to prevent Russia from using their pivot like in the first half. We improved during the match, as against Spain, and in the end we fully deserved to win."

The UEFA Futsal EURO 2022 winnersSPORTSFILE

André Coelho, Portugal goalscorer: "I'm happy with the fact that I was able to help the team to achieve their goal, but that's not the most important thing. What really matters is that Portugal showed once again why we are European and world champions. It was important to score that goal at the end of the first half because it's really different to start the second half losing 2-1 rather than 2-0. We were not aggressive enough defensively in the first 20 minutes but we were able to change that after the break and that was one of the keys to our win. This is like a dream come true."

Sergei Skorovich, Russia coach: "Portugal are champions as we lost this game, unfortunately. However, we had every chance to win it. We were up by two goals and had chances to score the third. That's why futsal is such an interesting game for the fans. Once again, Russia lacked just one step to get the trophy, so we can't be happy. However, we lost in a very even battle and we have something we can be proud of."