Thursday 15 September 2022
Portugal will face Paraguay and Spain take on Argentina at Parque Roca in Buenos Aires for places in Sunday’s final.
The first Futsal Finalissima begins on Thursday at Parque Roca in Buenos Aires as European and world champions Portugal take on Paraguay before hosts Argentina meet Spain.
Schedule
Thursday 15 September:
Semi-finals
Portugal vs Paraguay (17:00 local, 22:00 CET)
Argentina vs Spain (19:45 local, 00:45 CET)
Sunday 18 September:
Third-place play-off (14:00 local, 19:00 CET)
Final (16:45 local, 21:45CET)
If either semi-final finishes level, it will go straight to penalties. Only the final itself will go to extra time first.
Part of the expansion of the cooperation between UEFA and CONMEBOL, the Futsal Finalissima is a final-four tournament involving UEFA Futsal EURO 2022 winners Portugal and third-placed team Spain alongside 2022 CONMEBOL Copa América de Futsal winners Argentina and runners-up Paraguay.
Having claimed a first World Cup and retained the EURO title in the last 12 months, Portugal can complete a unique treble in Buenos Aires. They have named 11 players from the 14-strong squad that triumphed in Amsterdam in February, with Tiago Brito ruled out due to injury and replacement Mário Freitas one of only three men in the selection without a major national-team honour, alongside emerging talents Hugo Neves and Silvestre Ferreira.
History certainly favours Portugal, who have won all four past meetings with Paraguay, including a pair of 2-1 home friendly wins just before the 2021 World Cup in September. Paraguay eventually fell to Argentina in the round of 16 in Lithuania, having also lost 4-0 to Spain in the group stage.
Still, they finished runners-up in the Copa América for the second time in three editions earlier this year, losing the decider as hosts 1-0 to Argentina. Paraguay had previously held Argentina 3-3 to finish above them in the group stage, meaning they avoided Brazil in the semi-finals.
Their largely home-based squad includes three players in Hugo Martínez, Richard Rejala and Damián Mareco who last month helped Differdange become the first team from Luxembourg to progress through a UEFA Futsal Champions League mini-tournament group. Rejala scored six goals in three matches.
Afonso Jesus, Portugal player: “Paraguay are a very strong and competent team who compete to the end. Their players have great technical ability and we will only win if we’re at our best. I am sure that, in addition to very competitive games, the fans will create a very good atmosphere, as is usual in South America. From what we’ve seen on the streets of Buenos Aires, you can see that the people like futsal as much as we do.”
Jorge Braz, Portugal coach: “Paraguay, especially in the Copa América, showed they want to take a step forward and that they really want to overtake Argentina and Brazil, with whom they compete here in South America. They are very competitive, I remember that they only lost 1-0 in the final of the Copa América, in a game that was extremely balanced. We know the team very well and all the players. They are technically very strong, have great competitive ability and are very tough.”
Carlos Chilavert, Paraguay coach: “We have a fresh young squad, but with an international background. We will face the world champions and to have a chance we have to have a really great performance.”
Damián Mareco, Paraguay player: “Portugal have a lot of depth, many top players. We study them a lot, but you also learn a lot by watching what they do in Europe.”
Spain may have retained the Under-19 and women’s European titles in recent months but they are without a major senior men’s crown since losing the final of Futsal EURO 2018 to Portugal – who also knocked them out of the 2021 World Cup and Futsal EURO 2022.
Among the players hoping to put that right is Antonio Pérez. A star of Spain’s 2019 Futsal U19 EURO win, he has been included in the squad, taking the defensive slot formerly filled by his Barça club-mate Ortiz, who ended his long international career after Futsal EURO 2022.
The Argentina squad will hold few surprises for Pérez and Co since nine of their 14 players are based in Spain, plus two more elsewhere in Europe. Alan Brandi – who scored twice when Argentina won the 2016 World Cup final – Pablo Taborda (out of international retirement) and Gerardo Menzeguez will all be up against their Jaén club-mate Chino, while Ángel Claudino is a Valdepeñas colleague of Spain’s Boyis.
Argentina lost the 2021 World Cup final to Portugal, having broken the Brazil-Spain duopoly on the title five years earlier. Spain, 2000 and 2004 world champions, had a perfect record in seven fixtures against Argentina before a 4-4 draw in August last year in Málaga. Those seven Spain wins included victories in the 2000 World Cup first group stage and 2008 second group stage.
Fede Vidal, Spain coach: “After a difficult year, where we didn’t get the successes we wanted, it will be one more opportunity to show Spain are still one of the best teams in the world. [Argentina] are strong in defence. You have to circulate the ball, keep up the pressure in attack and avoid mistakes because they can be ruthless.
Matías Lucuix, Argentina coach: “We know who Spain are, what they represent. This is a chance to beat a team Argentina have never beaten, we hope to be able to achieve it. If we have the opportunity to play this tournament it is because we did things well in the past. We play it because we are champions of South America. There won’t be many opportunities to play a game like this, at home, with our fans, so make the most of it.”
Maximilian Rescia, Argentina player: “We know Spain have top level players, it is natural to face that sort of team at this level. I think we are prepared, we have to take advantage of our strenghts. We are aware of what their strengths are and what their weaknesses are, so we have to match them in what they do well and what we are strong in.”
Albania: RTSH
Bosnia and Herzegovina: BHRT
Bulgaria: BNT
Hungary: MTVA
Lithuania: LRT
Portugal: RTP, Canal 11
Spain: TVE
Ukraine: Suspilne
Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, United Kingdom: UEFA.tv
© 1998-2022 UEFA. All rights reserved.
The UEFA word, the UEFA logo and all marks related to UEFA competitions, are protected by trademarks and/or copyright of UEFA. No use for commercial purposes may be made of such trademarks. Use of UEFA.com signifies your agreement to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.