“Even though it is virtually impossible”: Futsal devils still dream of European Championship stunt after “disappointment” against Slovenia
“You have days when luck is against you.” The defeat against Slovenia was a bitter pill to swallow at the European Futsal Championship. Both national coach Bachar and strongman Vanderheyden saw opportunities for the Belgians, but realized all too well that mistakes are punished at this level. “We should be proud that we still have a chance of qualifying,” he also sounds hopeful.
What if?
The small individual mistakes, but especially the luck on Slovenia’s side, resulted in a tough 2-5 score at halftime. The Belgians recovered afterwards, but were unable to pull off a draw. And so the qualification for the quarter-finals of the European Futsal Championship threatens to go wrong.
“Disappointment dominates,” says strongman Kenneth Vanderheyden, who received the futsal Golden Shoe last year. “There were too many mistakes in the first half, including me personally. Everyone has to look in the mirror now.”
“You have days when luck is good and when things are bad. Today it was very bad. During half time we were woken up and we said: “Look, this is a European Championship, we have to show that we have our place here.” We finally showed that in the second half.”
National coach Karim Bachar was visibly disappointed: “We conceded two avoidable goals, and their fifth goal came from an unjustified free kick. So you go into halftime with a big deficit, so it is typical of the players that they return to 4-5.”
Bachar: “We are not giving up hope”
“Now on to Thursday,” Vanderheyden was immediately combative. The last match against top favorite Spain will be a tough task. The two-time world champion had little trouble in his first two group matches.
The fate is still in the hands of the Devils, but then they have to beat Spain. “I think you have to have faith in every match. We have already been able to win against Portugal (2021 world champion, ed.), Italy (two-time European champion, ed.) and Serbia.”
“I think we now have to rely on our own strength,” Vanderheyden continues. “We will analyze them and just defend them. We will put our heads to it, like we did against Belarus.”
We have shown in the past that with a bit of luck we can achieve a result against top countries.
Karim Bachar (national coach)
How will national coach Bachar tackle that “very difficult assignment”? “They are really the European top. Besides Portugal, they are the big favorite. We know we have nothing to lose. We are going to sell our skin dearly and do everything we can.”
“I know it is almost impossible to get points against Spain,” Bachar continues, “but we have shown in the past that with a bit of luck we can achieve a result against top countries. Now we have to relax and be proud that we still have a chance of qualifying.”
And then there is also Slovenia – Belarus at the same time on Thursday. A (narrow) Belarusian victory against the host country could ensure that the Belgians advance even in the event of a defeat.
“In futsal, anything is possible. We hope that the Belarusians can provide a surprise, but I think we just have to look at our own result. After the match we will see what Slovenia has done. There will either be euphoria or disappointment.”
So no calculations, but above all belief in the Red Futsal Devils’ own abilities.
