Courtesy: UEFA.com


Interviú break Araz resistance

Friday 23 April 2010

Araz Naxçivan 2-5 Interviú Madrid

The team from Azerbaijan twice equalised before Betão, goalkeeper Luis Amado and Daniel took the holders into Sunday's final.

by Paul Bryan from Pavilhão Atlântico

UEFA Futsal Cup holders Interviú Madrid were forced to work hard to reach Sunday's final against hosts SL Benfica after Araz Naxçivan produced a valiant effort against the three-time winners in Lisbon.

Interviú twice took the lead through Jordi Torras and Gabriel but each time they were pegged back by the first Azerbaijani team to reach a UEFA club semi-final. Only in the last seven minutes did the Spanish side streak away, to move into their fifth final in seven seasons, where they will be rematched with the side they beat in their first in 2004.

Araz coach Alecio hinted he had a plan to deal with Interviú and it soon became clear his side would look to play on the counter. A constant threat moving forward, Araz pivot Serjão brought a fine save from Luis Amado in the opening stages.

The reigning champions soon found their rhythm, however, and Betão brought a flying stop from Andrey Tveryankin before Borja wrong-footed the opposition with a cleverly passed free-kick that allowed Torras to open the scoring. Undaunted, Araz stuck to their task and not long before the break Biro Jade slid in at the far post to direct Thiago's cross past Amado.

Both sides increased the pace after the restart and after Biro Jade missed for Araz, Gabriel pounced at the other end to send Tveryankin's block back past the keeper. Interviú's advantage was brief, Serjão making it 2-2 when he thumped home Felipe's corner.

It needed a sublime piece of skill from Betão to restore the Spanish side's lead. With his back to goal, the forward accepted Gabriel's pass before spinning and angling a shot in off the far post.

The game began to creep away from Araz the moment Amado pulled off a magnificent save from Biro Jade and the No1 then scored with a clearance into an unguarded net. Daniel, like Amado and Schumacher part of Interviú's victories in 2004, 2006 and a year ago, wrapped things up at the end; Araz's disappointment compounded as Serjão picked up a booking which rules him out of the third-place play-off against Luparense C/5.



Courtesy: UEFA.com


Hosts Benfica storm into futsal final

Friday 23 April 2010

SL Benfica 8-4 Luparense C/5

Benfica delighted the home crowd at the Pavilhão Atlântico as they set up a rematch of the 2004 final against Interviú Madrid.

by Paul Bryan from Pavilhão Atlântico

SL Benfica will meet Interviú Madrid in a repeat of the 2004 UEFA Futsal Cup final after the hosts overcame Luparense C/5 8-4 in an enthralling last-four encounter at the Pavilhão Atlántico.

The hosts were in control from the moment Joel Queirós broke the deadlock on three minutes, even if Luparense kept them in touching distance, going into half-time only 3-2 down. Two strikes in three minutes at the start of the second period all but ended their challenge, a late flurry of five goals giving a fairly one-sided look to the scoreline.

Benfica will now face Interviú, whose earlier semi-final against Azerbaijan's Araz Naxçivan began at a tentative pace – there was no repeat in the later game. To the delight of the vociferous home support, Benfica hit the front when the alert Joel made the most of goalkeeper Miguel Weber's stray pass before finishing in style.

The Serie A1 team hit back immediately, Humberto Honorio scoring following a one-two with Carlos Chilavert Gennaro, but Joel would prove a constant thorn in Luparense's side. He teed up Ricardinho to smash home and make it 2-1 and then, with the visitors looking to hit them on the break, Joel punished them again in the 12th minute after César Paulo dispossessed Honorio and set him on his way.

Sito Rivera demanded a quick response from his team and got one with Nuno crossing for Vampeta to tap in to make it 3-2. The 2009 Supercoppa Italia winners' hopes were all but extinguished soon after half-time, however. First Joel's shot deflected off Arnaldo before beating Weber and it was 5-2 two minutes later when Davi was offered an easy finish after Ricardinho's exquisite chip came back off the crossbar.

As the half progressed, Luparense found the woodwork three times before some clever footwork from Clayton Baptistella helped reduce the arrears. Aside from a last-minute own goal, that was as good as it got for the Italian team, who conceded further goals to Ricardinho and Arnaldo. César Paulo rounded off an impressive performance for Benfica with a superb finish off the far post and the Portuguese side will approach Sunday's final confident there will be no repeat of their 2004 two-legged loss to Interviú. Luparense make Araz for third place.



Courtesy: UEFA.com


Joel hails 'intelligent' Benfica

Friday 23 April 2010

Joel Queirós, who scored twice in SL Benfica's 8-4 semi-final defeat of Luparense C/5, said the hosts got their tactics exactly right against a team whose coach conceded they deserved to lose.

by Paul Bryan from Pavilhão Atlântico

Having put in a performance that earned him a Man of the Match Award by Seat and propelled SL Benfica to an 8-4 UEFA Futsal Cup semi-final triumph against Luparense C/5, Joel Queirós said a studious approach helped the hosts see off their Italian counterparts.

The Eagles were nearly always at least one step ahead of their Serie A1 rivals at a raucous Pavilhão Atlántico and with Joel in top form – scoring twice and providing two assists in an 8-4 victory – Sito Rivera's side were always playing catch up. "We played an excellent match; really quite intelligent," the 27-year-old told UEFA.com.

"We studied Luparense very well and we caused them to make mistakes which we profited from. We scored twice in the early stages and then we looked to control that advantage. Then, when we struck twice again in the second half we knew it caused them to suffer," he continued.

Enjoying a healthy second-half lead, André Lima's charges sat back, allowing their opponents to enjoy their best moment of the game. "At that stage, they were slightly unlucky as they hit the woodwork three times," Joel explained. "Not long after that we hit our sixth which killed off the game as a contest. It was a very physical game which was something we had to overcome."

A repeat of Benfica's two-legged 2004 final defeat against Interviú Madrid now awaits the hosts who – according to Joel – can expect a passionate atmosphere when they take to the pitch in the Portuguese capital. "On Sunday, with the arena packed full of Benfica supporters, we must play well and begin the game intensely," he said. "We know Interviú very well and we should try to work hard in defence while looking to profit from any errors they make."

Prior to that encounter, Sito Rivera's Luparense will take on Araz Naxçivan in the third-place match and the Spanish-born coach was making no excuses for his team not having reached the final. "We have to congratulate Benfica who were much better than us," Rivera said. "We made too many mistakes at the back and they were able to take advantage at key moments. We've never committed so many errors to be honest; we must have lost possession more than 50 times and that's a sure way to lose."



Courtesy: UEFA.com


Amado relieved to hold off Araz

Friday 23 April 2010

Goalscoring goalkeeper Luis Amado admitted Interviú Madrid may have underestimated Araz Naxçivan before a 5-2 semi-final win that had losing coach Alecio cursing his team's lack of depth.

by Paul Bryan from Pavilhão Atlântico

Interviú Madrid goalkeeper Luis Amado admitted the UEFA Futsal Cup holders were relieved to reach Sunday's final after the Spanish side were given a fright by Araz Naxçivan in Lisbon.

Having twice been pegged back by the first semi-finalists from Azerbaijan, the three-time champions eventually pulled away from their opponents, finishing 5-2 victors to set up a Pavilhão Atlántico decider with hosts SL Benfica. Speaking to UEFA.com after receiving his Man of the Match Award by Seat, Amado explained that Interviú might have underrated their opponents.

"We didn't expect such a difficult game to be honest," he said. "Obviously the opening games in these type of tournaments are generally tricky but we never anticipated such a physically demanding encounter nor did we think they'd be pushing us so close on the scoreboard."

Having beaten away a barrage of shots in the early stages of the encounter, Amado later dramatically clawed out Biro Jade's goalbound effort before claiming his side's fourth goal with a long-distance clearance similar to the one he scored for Spain against the Czech Republic in last January's UEFA European Futsal Championship semi-finals.

"Things like that don't happen by accident," the 33-year-old said. "I was practicing some things like that while trying to get used to the type of ball we're using here which is different to what we're used to. We worked a lot on certain things before the game and fortunately that helped me a lot."

However, Amado stated that there was much for his team-mates to improve upon ahead of Sunday's showpiece. "We need to tighten up at the back as we were a bit weak in defence tonight," he said. "Araz came to play in their style which affected us but in the second half we got better and we were able to produce the type of game we are used to playing in Spain."

Meanwhile, Araz coach Alecio – who must now prepare his side for a third-place match with Luparense C/5 – admitted to feeling frustrated that his side lost control of the game at a crucial moment. "We don't have the quantity of quality players you need in order to rotate and that was evident in the closing stages," he said. "The pivotal moment of the game was when Betão put them 3-2 ahead; we knew he was capable of that and yet we weren't switched on at that moment in order to prevent it happening."


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