Courtesy: UEFA.com


Pedro Costa wants repeat Benfica success

Having lifted the UEFA Futsal Cup as SL Benfica captain a year ago, Pedro Costa is keen to do so again over in Almaty, Kazakhstan, but knows the Eagles are "the side they all want to beat".

Thursday 28 April 2011

by Hugo Pietra from Lisbon

A year ago SL Benfica captain Pedro Costa lifted the UEFA Futsal Cup in front of a thrilled competition-record 9,400 crowd in Lisbon. This time Benfica have travelled to Kazakhstan for the finals, where they face ASD Città di Montesilvano C/5 in the semis on Friday for a chance to meet either hosts Kairat Almaty or Sporting Clube de Portugal. He spoke to UEFA.com about his memories of last year and their ambitions this time.


UEFA.com: What is the difference betwen heading into the finals as holders and looking to win it for the first time?
Pedro Costa: Last year we finally managed to surpass the psychological barrier of the "we almost got it" or the "it was close". Today we are the side they all want to beat as we are the titleholders and we want to win the title again.


UEFA.com: What is your fondest memory of last year's triumph?
Pedro Costa: Looking up at the stands and seeing 9,400 people packed into the Pavilhão Atlântico in Lisbon, who pushed us to Portuguese futsal's greatest achievement so far.


UEFA.com: It is a new-look squad this time starting with the coach Paulo Fernandes. Tell us about him.
Pedro Costa: I have known Paulo for many years but this is the first time I have worked with him as my coach. He is a very organised and methodical coach. As a person he is very polite and knows when to listen to players at the right moments. However his main quality is that he has a strong belief in his work and he can communicate that message to the players.


UEFA.com: There are two Portuguese teams in the finals and for the first time no Spanish or Russian teams. What does this say about the strength of Portuguese futsal?
Pedro Costa: It is a clear evidence that Portuguese futsal is having its brightest moment ever. The year 2010 was unforgettable for all the fans of this wonderful sport. Spanish and Russian clubs are still strong but the fact is they are not in the running for the top prize.


UEFA.com: Is the balance of power shifting?
Pedro Costa: The balance of power shifted on 25 April 2010. It is an historic date for Portugal due to the 1974 revolution but we in futsal wanted to make it unforgettable.


UEFA.com: Ricardinho made such an impact last year but has now left for Japan. Who has filled his shoes?
Pedro Costa: Ricardo is probably the best Portuguese futsal player of all time and he was always very influential during his stay at Benfica. He decided to embrace a new challenge in his career. Benfica tried to guarantee a worthy successor bearing in mind Ricardinho's style of play. Some new valuable players arrived, with great potential – but in an intelligent way nobody wanted to come in as a replacement for Ricardinho. For me, the gap left by Ricardinho's departure was filled with fantastic team play.


UEFA.com: What are Montesilvano's strengths?
Pedro Costa: Montesilvano have an extensive array of players from Brazil who can make the difference any time in the game. I think it is their main strength.




Courtesy: UEFA.com


Peak performances expected in Almaty

The UEFA Futsal Cup goes east to Kazakhstan as hosts Kairat Almaty, semi-final opponents Sporting Clube de Portugal, holders SL Benfica and ASD Città di Montesilvano C/5 kick off.

Thursday 28 April 2011

by Patrick Hart from Almaty

The Alatau mountain range that provides an imposing backdrop to Almaty will not be the only towering spectacle to take in from Kazakhstan's largest city this week. Not with the UEFA Futsal Cup in town.

A field of 48 clubs has been reduced, over three rounds of competition (preliminary, main and elite), to a select four. This quartet will jostle for position at the Baluan Sholak Sport Palace during Friday's semi-finals and, on Sunday, a final and a third-place match.

The action begins with the first semi-final between tournament hosts Kairat Almaty and Sporting Clube de Portugal, being played at 14.30CET (18.30 local time). Then, from 17.00CET (21.00 local), holders SL Benfica will get started against ASD Città di Montesilvano C/5.

Benfica stole the limelight in Lisbon last year, yet for seasoned UEFA Futsal Cup semi-finalists Kairat and Sporting, and particularly for Italian competition debutants Montesilvano, a new horizon beckons in this most eastern of UEFA tournaments. Not least as no Spanish or Russian side will compete in the final for the first time.

Now a city of about 1.5 million people, Almaty developed as a trading post on the Silk Road to and from China, and the prize commodity available in Sunday's final will not be won easily. Nor will a bronze medal be undervalued in the accompanying play-off.

What is also certain is that the expected 5,000 spectators at the Baluan Sholak will witness a display of top-class futsal. This tenth season of the UEFA Futsal Cup may well be a deluxe edition according to Kairat coach João Carlos Barbosa: "The quality of European futsal is getting better and better, and not just because of the Brazilian players. You have a lot of good players in Europe too – in countries like Spain and Russia."

Portugal proved its calibre by supplying a winner last year to join Benfica's predecessor clubs from Spain (five victories), Russia (two) and Belgium (one). The drama to unfold in this, the competition's fifth four-team final tournament, will decide whether a new name and a new country join the honours list.

First, though, there are summits to scale for the assembled players and coaches.




Courtesy: UEFA.com


Kairat and Sporting put ambitions to the test

Hosts Kairat Almaty are looking to home support in "a huge event for Kazakhstan" ahead of their semi-final against a Sporting Clube de Portugal team seeking to set a unique record.

Thursday 28 April 2011

by Patrick Hart from Almaty

Both teams are chasing a dream but only one will have the chance to fulfil it after Sporting Clube de Portugal and tournament hosts Kairat Almaty meet in the first of Friday's 2010/11 UEFA Futsal Cup semi-finals.

Kairat, staging Kazakhstan's first UEFA final tournament at any level, go into their fourth semi-final in six seasons eager to take that next step – and go on to land the trophy. Sporting, meanwhile, want not only to stamp their name on the futsal map by taking the crown won last year by Lisbon rivals SL Benfica. They also intend to become the first club in Europe to be continental champions in five different sports, subject to triumphing here.

Yet the hosts, who align a generous local owner in Kairat Orazbekov with a blue-chip Brazilian coach, João Carlos Barbosa, and captain, Kelson, have invested great hopes in this tournament. After their competition-best performance of third place in 2009, can home advantage finally take them over the line?

"I would say our team have the same chance as the rest," said Barbosa. "But I think we can get to the final and win. After a defeat like 2009 [5-0 in the semi-finals by Interviú Madrid], you look for things to take you forward, and from that experience we have been able to build a solid team which has got us to the semi-finals. The public, the press, everyone is really excited – this is a huge event for Kazakhstan."

Kelson, who helped Kairat top elite round Group C at their Baluan Sholak Sport Palace, expects the same home crowd to play their part. "The crowd have a key role," he said. "They really helped us in qualification. We had difficult moments and they got us through them."

Whether the Brazilian can lift a third UEFA Futsal Cup after victories with Action 21 Charleroi and MFK Dinamo Moskva also depends on Sporting. The third-place finishers at home in 2002 have Cardinal, their joint-top scorer in qualifying, suspended on Friday, yet they count on the know-how of coach Orlando Duarte. He led Portugal to the runners-up spot at UEFA Futsal EURO 2010 before rejoining Sporting after a decade away – and is keen to continue an upward trend for the Portuguese game.

"It was a really important experience for Portugal at the Futsal EURO and you can also add Benfica [winning this tournament], so it's been a great time for Portuguese futsal," Duarte said. "We are a team with character and we think we can win."

While Kairat were seeded past the main round, Sporting came through that stage before knocking out Spain's ElPozo Murcia FS in Lisbon. Those efforts may reap rewards, according to goalkeeping captain João Benedito.

"We are going into the last four with an ambition that isn't just for the futsal team but for the whole club," he said. "This isn't just about winning a European trophy. Because in Europe there are only two clubs that have been continental champions in four different sports – Sporting and Barcelona. Now we want to become the only club with five crowns."




Courtesy: UEFA.com


Pressure on Benfica against new boys Montesilvano

Holders SL Benfica will thoroughly examine the UEFA Futsal Cup credentials of ASD Città di Montesilvano C/5 in the debutants' first appearance in the semi-finals on Friday.

Thursday 28 April 2011

by Patrick Hart from Almaty

The masters of the 2011 UEFA Futsal Cup finals meet the novices in Friday's second semi-final featuring SL Benfica and ASD Città di Montesilvano C/5 in Almaty.

An encounter between trophy holders and competition debutants seems a mismatch in terms of European know-how, yet no club has managed to defend this title since Playas de Castellón FS won the inaugural editions in 2002 and 2003. A sobering statistic for Benfica coach Paulo Fernandes, who moved from Sporting Clube de Portugal after the 2010 finals.

"Of the four finalists, we are the team with the most knowledge of this stage of the competition and that means there is a bigger bonus on us to perform," said Fernandes. "We did our job last time and we will try to do it again."

The Eagles' UEFA Futsal Cup triumph last season in Lisbon was their second appearance in the final after losing in 2004 to Interviú Madrid, one of only two teams ever to have beaten them in the competition alongside MFK Dinamo Moskva. If such pedigree is to be challenged by the underdogs from Italy's Adriatic coast, then Fulvio Colini's men will want to maintain the scoring form that marked the newcomers' progress through the main and elite rounds.

Montesilvano scored 28 goals in six games, with ten coming from Cleyton Baptistella, including five in their last match against AGBU Ararat Nicosia FC. A more eye-catching indicator of the club's development, according to captain Marcio Forte, is that they pipped both 2008 winners MFK Sinara Ekaterinburg and 2010 bronze medallists Araz Naxçivan to a place in Kazakhstan in the elite round in Russia.

"This team has grown so much over the last two seasons, we have become a proper team and have developed a winning mentality," Forte said of a side who clinched their first Italian championship last term. "We have taken it step by step, but it was a massive achievement to overcome Ekaterinburg in the elite round and now we are going to give it everything – not just for our sake, but for that of Italian futsal."

Coach Colini picked up the theme of national pride; Montesilvano are Italy's second straight semi-final representatives after Baptistella's previous club Luparense C/5 last year. "It is a great debut for us, not just at the finals, but in European football all season," he said. "However, that isn't true of Italian futsal, because Italian clubs and the national team have competed at the top level consistently in recent years. Now the goal is to maintain that image of Italian futsal."

Benfica have kept up appearances alright in 2010/11 – unbeaten in the league, they also won all three elite round Group A games. Yet while Fernandes touted hosts Kairat Almaty as a potential title threat, captain Pedro Costa concentrated on Montesilvano, saying: "We aren't thinking about the final, we are only thinking about our first opponents. We are fully prepared for these finals and are going to do everything necessary. Our focus is firmly on Friday."



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