Ukraine needed help to qualify for its seventh straight Futsal EURO quarterfinal, but with a playoff place secure, the team looks to get past rivals Kazakhstan with a potential semi-final date against Russia.
It wasn’t always pretty, but in the end, the Ukrainian national futsal team got the job done by qualifying for its seventh straight UEFA Futsal Championships quarterfinal.
It was always going to be an uphill battle after the team suffered a shock defeat at the hands of host Netherlands in the opening game of the tournament.
The team was able to get on track against Serbia in the second game, posting a convincing 6-1 win to put themselves in position to qualify for another quarterfinal.
The final group stage game had Ukraine against the reigning World and European champions – Portugal.
In an entertaining and tense affair, the Ukrainians fell 0-1 to the champions.
“I believe that this result will benefit us,“
said Ukrainian captain Petro Shoturma.
“We were like a Ukrainian mace – prickly for the opponent. We gave a worthy fight to the reigning World and European champions. We are not ashamed of the result.”
The loss meant Ukraine had to rely on a stirring Serbia comeback against the Netherlands for any chance to qualify.
Serbia obliged by erasing a 0-2 deficit to knock out the hosts 3-2 and send Ukraine to its sixth straight European quarterfinal.
Ukraine to face rivals Kazakhstan
Ukraine has now made the quarterfinals in eight of the last nine tournaments. But while they were dominant in the early 2000s, which saw the team make three straight semifinals – including two heartbreaking losses in the final – the team has crashed out at the quarterfinal at each of the last six tournaments.
Kazakhstan marks another challenge for Ukraine after the blue-and-yellows hung with the best team in the world in the previous game. Kazakhstan is ranked No. 6 in the world; Ukraine is at No. 12.
“At EURO 2022 there were no easy games with any of the teams!“
said coach Oleksandr Kosenko.
“Kazakhstan is a world-class team that is almost always been in the medals at various tournaments. We are determined to go as far as possible – and to not let Kazakhstan do so.”
The teams have never faced each other in a major competition. The last time they played, a friendly in Brovary in 2018, ended in a 1-1 draw.
To be successful, Ukraine will have to keep close tabs on Kazakh defender Birzhan Orazov, who leads the tournament with five goals. Ukrainian defender Mykhailo Zvarych has also been sharp, netting three goals in three games to sit third on the goal scoring table.
“This is a strong team with high-quality Brazilian performers.” said Ukrainian defender Yevhen Siryi, who used to play in the Kazakh league.
“Kazakhs have an interesting specificity of the game, which is the constant connection of the goalkeeper to the attacks.”
Should Ukraine win, they will face the winner of Russia vs Georgia on Feb. 4 in Amsterdam.
The Ukraine vs Kazakhstan game will be played on Jan. 31 at 21:30 (Kyiv time). You can watch the games on TRBC Ukraine – including Football 1, Football 2, and Oll.tv – or on the UEFA.tv YouTube channel.
