Russia national futsal team

The Russian national futsal team (Russian: Сборная России по мини-футболу) is the national futsal team of Russia. The team is controlled by the Football Union of Russia and affiliated with UEFA. Sergey Skorovich is currently managing the team.

Russia qualified for four World Cups, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008 and for every edition of European Championship.

History

Beginning

Russia's FIFA Futsal World Cup history began inauspiciously in 1992, when a poor defensive record of 16 goals conceded in three matches meant elimination at the group stage. A dramatic turnaround in Spain four years later saw the Russians claim an impressive third spot with a 3-2 success over neighbours Ukraine in the deciding match. Russia's most recent appearance on the world stage came at the 2000 finals in Guatemala, where they took fourth after a 4-2 defeat to Portugal in the third-place play-off. At the UEFA Futsal Championship in late 2007, a new generation picked up the thread of previous FIFA Futsal World Cup performances and finished third, gaining revenge over Portugal for a defeat at the same stage in 2000.

Recently

Russia were drawn in a group of three nations in qualifying for the FIFA Futsal World Cup Brazil 2008, but after France withdrew at the last minute, the berth in the next round was decided in a single eliminator against Serbia. The Russians duly won 3-2 to book a play-off spot with Belarus, one of the surprise packages at the group stage, but the experience of three appearances at the FIFA Futsal World Cup finals told in the end as the Russians eased to a 6-2 aggregate win. Much of the credit goes to keeper Pavel Stepanov for conceding only four goals in three matches. At the final tournament, Russia were drawn in Group A along with Brazil, Japan, Cuba and Solomon Islands. Losing against Brazil and winning the other three games, Russia finished second and qualified for the Second Round. This time Russia were drawn in Group F together with Spain, Argentina and Paraguay. After losing to Spain in the opening match, Russia went on to win against Paraguay and draw with Argentina to scrape through to set-up a semi-final against Brazil. However, Russia were unable to past Brazil and eventually they had to content with the fourth place after losing out to Italy in the Third place playoff final.

Competitive record

World Cup record

European Championship record

Star Players

• Konstantin Eremenko, 1992–2000
• Alexander Verizhnikov, 1996–2000
• Arkadiy Belyi, 1996–2000
• Temur Alekberov, 1996–2000
• Sergey Zuev, 2002-
• Pavel Stepanov, 2004–2008
• Vladislav Shayakhmetov, 2004-
• Pula, 2007-
• Cirilo, 2007-

References

External links

• Association of mini-football of Russia (rus)