Courtesy: UEFA.com


MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg

Sunday 1 February 2009

MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg have spent 15 of their 17-year life in the top flight of Russian futsal and came of age in 2008 by winning the UEFA Futsal Cup.

European bow
In their early days Ekaterinburg had success in the unofficial Asia Cup competition, lifting the trophy in 1992 and 1993 before earning a place in the Russian Premiere (now Super) League. Since then they have managed eight top-three finishes, including four as runners-up. In 2006/07 they won the Russian Cup and ran MFK Dinamo Moskva to within one point in the league but as the capital club also won the UEFA Futsal Cup, Ekaterinburg earned a European debut. After three Elite round wins they travelled to the final four in Moscow and beat Kairat Almaty 4-1 to set up a decider with ElPozo Murcia FS, which Viz won 3-2 on penalties after a 4-4 draw. Their support compares favourably with local first division football side FC Ural. In four meetings with Dinamo in the Russian Super League this year, Viz won three and drew one.

Key players
Viz maintain a policy of using homegrown players and among their squad are Russia goalkeeper Sergei Zuev plus fellow internationals Konstantin Timoschenko, Konstantin Agapov and Damir Khamadiev – who missed last year's final four through injury. However, that fate has befallen Dmitry Prudnikov, the winning goalscorer in the host nation's December 2008 UEFA European Under-21 Futsal Tournament victory in St Petersburg, who has broken his ankle.

Coach: Sergei Skorovich

Date of Birth: 05.04.1973
Nationality: Russian
Playing career: (football) FC Avtomobilist Kokand, FC Trion-Volga Tver, FC Uralets Nizhny Tagil, FC Uralmash Ekaterinburg; (futsal) MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg
Coaching career: MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg (reserves), MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg, Russia

MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg coach Sergei Skorovich, in his first managerial role, has taken a club yet to win a national title to European glory.

Originally a footballer, Skorovich began his career with FC Avtomobilist Kokand in Uzbekistan, and at one point had trials with FC Spartak Moskva. That move never went through and he continued his career in the lower divisions, most notably with FC Uralmash Ekaterinburg. In 1995, Skorovich switched to futsal and signed for Viz-Sinara, helping them to league runners-up slots in 1997/98 and 1998/99.

Skorovich retired from playing in 2002, initially to coach Ekaterinburg reserves before taking over the first team in June 2005. In his first two seasons at Viz-Sinara the club were league runners-up behind MFK Dinamo Moskva and in 2006/07 they lifted the Russian Cup. As league champions Dinamo won the UEFA Futsal Cup that year, Ekaterinburg earned a European bow for last season and three second qualifying round wins took Skorovich's side into the final four, where they defeated Kairat Almaty and ElPozo Murcia FS to lift the trophy. They earned another final four place this term and at the start of 2009 Skorovich was given the role of Russian national coach alongside his club position, leading them through UEFA European Futsal Championship qualifying in March to reach next year's finals.

As a player, Skorovich was a defender, which explains his cautious approach when it comes to coaching. However, he admits: "There should be a balance of defence and attack because futsal is a spectacle first of all. We have classy players, so we have no right to leave the pitch without scoring a goal." They are also among the best-supported futsal clubs in Europe and rely on homegrown talent.







Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com