Croatia wins silver medal at UEFA U-19 Futsal EURO
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
RIGA, 14 September 2019 – Croatia has won the silver medal at the UEFA Under-19 Futsal Championship after going down to Spain in the final in Latvia on Saturday.
Spain, who had already beaten Croatia in the group phases and were on a 14-match unbeaten run, showed their class in the final in front of over 2,000 fans, winning 6-1.
Spain would take the lead in the 6th minute when Ricardo Mayor turned in a corner. Croatia would then equalise when Mateo Mužar powered in a free-kick in the 13th minute. Rodríguez then put Spain back in front a minute later.
Spain extended the lead just 90 seconds before the break via Cristian Molina and grabbed one more before halftime when Antonio Pérez scored from the second penalty mark. Spain would run away with match in the second half, scoring two more goals to complete a deserved victory.
Croatia reached the final with wins against the Netherlands, and Ukraine in the group stages, before dramatically beating Portugal in a penalty shoot-out in the semi-final.
“Nobody expected before the tournament that Croatia would get here, it was a big surprise for us. Spain are probably the best team in the world,” Croatia coach, Marinko Mavrović, said before the match.
Croatia’s Fran Vukelić scored eight goals in the competition including qualifying, equal top with Danil Karpyuk of Russia.
This was the inaugural UEFA U-19 Futsal European Championships and the first final in any UEFA national-team tournament for Croatia.
Silver medal-winning Croatian team:
Nikola Čizmić (Split Tommy)
Filip Radaj (Crnica)
Josip Jurlina (Split Tommy)
Jakov Hrstić (Split Tommy)
Vicko Radić (Split Tommy)
Toni Rendić (Split Tommy)
Božo Sučić (Split Tommy)
Dominik Cvišić (Futsal Dinamo)
Mateo Mužar (Futsal Dinamo)
Fran Vukelić (Uspinjača Gimka)
Antonijo Papac (Uspinjača Gimka)
Duje Dragun (Aurelija)
Jakov Mudronja (Futsal Dinamo)
Filip Petrušić (Osijek Kelme)
Coach: Marinko Mavrović