Black, fast and flexible the Mondo playing field for Futsal Mondo is a guarantee of performance and many goals. Antwerp was for the third consecutive time the star of European National Championship.
The latest editions of the European Futsal Championships have offered a spectacle of the highest level, as never seen before. In Antwerp , where they played the 2014 edition of the games, the number of media and spectators inside the halls confirmed the steady increase in the popularity of the sport. Much of the credit can be attributed to the great effort made by UEFA in recent years who have taken the utmost care to create the ideal conditions to foster a highly spectacular game full of goals and games . The most important decision for achieving this goal has been to colloborate with Mondo, through the development of a new surface is specially designed for futsal . "Our collaboration with the division of the UEFA Futsal continues for eight years. With them we have developed a specific surface for futsal, a field that allows for a very quick and fast game in movement, and those conditions are imparted to the players, "said Andrea Vallauri, Mondo Director of International Sales Division of Sports. This is how the Fast Break System 2 Laminated system was created, with a finish designed for futsal. A system designed to promote the show, without affecting sports performance, as it was found in Antwerp.
After the Hungarian (2010) and Croatian (2012), the Belgian edition (2014) of the European Futsal Championship was held on the third Fast Break System 2 with wood laminate finish floor. Maximum ball speed, high rate of performance and good grip are the characteristics of the playing field created by Mondo which made it possible to reach the goal set by UEFA to have spectacular competitions full of goals. "With the growth interest towards the sport in Europe, we realized that for its development it was essential to have surfaces that would allow the highest performance," says Laurent Morel, UEFA Futsal Competition Manager. Created from extensive research, which took into account the opinions of the players and coaches, the Fast Break System 2 Laminated surface finish. The surface is very smooth and fast which provides the shoe good support and a good grip. In the lower part lies an elastic structure which provides the system with comfort and shock absorption providing a good elasticity. "The surface is much faster because it is more smooth, but at the same time is not slippery and is anti-reflective, so as to avoid creating those annoying glare caused by lights that illuminate the field. Under the wood laminate flooring then there are what I call swabs: used to add softness while supporting the foot. In this way, we combine the flexibility of the system with a fast and smooth surface, "says Andrea Vallauri.
The feature of speed and elasticity is not the only feature that immediately jumped to the eye of those who have observed the court during the European Futsal Championships but it is undoubtedly the black color of the surface. This color made its debut 2010 Hungarian edition. After four years and two editions of the Europeans Championships, there is no doubt that the deliberate creative choice by UEFA has been a winning move. "The decision to abandon the traditional blue was risky, especially for a competition of international significance. In the end, the absorption of light, the effect of television and the signs of the shoes have made the challenge even more challenging. The results has been overwhelmingly positive: the players have enjoyed the contrast with the ball, the spectators in the stands and from home and the insiders have been thrilled, "said Laurent Morel. Just as it was in 2012 in Croatia, and in Belgium when the perimeter of the playing field the color red was chosen, a decision that added a touch of "heat" to the field.
Another feature of the Mondo surface very much appreciated by the organizers of the European Championships was the speed and ease with which the floor was assembled and disassembled.
"The field is assembled in a day. Depending on the number of people involved: with four or five people they need 8 or 9 hours. In addition, it is important to emphasize that the field fits smoothly on various sites where it is installed, "says Andrea Vallauri. Due to its strength, a futsal field, made by Mondo can be reused even at the end of a demanding competition like the European Championships. " When the condition of the field is good, you can reuse it for other competitions: the field on which it is played in the UEFA Futsal Euro, for example, can be reused for the UEFA Futsal Cup Finals" , said Laurent Morel . This is what happened with the field on which the Europeans were held in Belgium : the same field was used for the UEFA Futsal Cup Finals to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, April 24-26, 2014. Having been dismantled by Mondo, the futsal playing field, which occupies an area of 1,100 square meters, is transported in a truck, and it is stored on-site in teh location of the game. The installation of the flooring is done under the supervision of Mondo which provides on-site assistance for the duration of the event.
The one played in Belgium from January 28th to February 8th, 2014 was the ninth edition of the UEFA European Futsal Championship, European Championship for national football teams to 5.
The event was held in Antwerp, in two arenas: the Lotto Arena (for the group matches) and the Sportpaleis (for the knockout stage). At the final stage was attended by 12 teams, divided into 4 groups of 3 teams each. The top two teams in each group are passed to the knockout stage. The semi-finals saw the four teams compete favored by odds: Spain, Russia, Italy and Portugal. The defending champions of Spain, a finalist of the last four, they lost in the semifinals against Russia. Italy, who won the continental title in 2003, won the final by beating Portugal 4-3. In the final, in front of 11,558 spectators, Italy has defeated Russia 3-1 to claim second title in its history. Spain won the match for third place 8-4 against Portugal. Top scorer of the event was the Russian Eder Lima by 8 goals.