Courtesy:
UEFA.com

Madrid awaits heavyweight duel

Wednesday, 17 March 2004

The UEFA Futsal Cup second qualifying round takes place this week with the eight remaining contenders divided into two groups of four.

Ready for action

Group A is the second to get under way with Boomerang Interviú FS hosting the mini-tournament on the outskirts of Madrid. They will be up against fellow Spanish side Playas de Castellón FS, InterKrAZ Kyiv of Ukraine and ZVV West Stars of the Netherlands, with the teams playing each other once over three days of action on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Final chance

The Group A winners will progress to the UEFA Futsal Cup final, to be played over two legs on 24 April and 1 May. Their opponents there will be the winners of Group B, which is also taking place this week in Lisbon.

Boomerang confident
Spanish champions Boomerang are determined to succeed in this season's UEFA Futsal Cup, especially after last year when they were denied a place in the final after fielding an ineligible player during the second qualifying round. They will be the toughest test for reigning champions Castellón, although may have the psychological edge after beating their rivals in the Spanish Cup final earlier this month.

Daniel hat-trick
The hero on that day was Spanish international Daniel, who scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 victory that included a goal from inside his own half. Boomerang, who boast excellent young players like Luis Arrizabalaga and Juan Ramón Manzanaro, have now won four out of four in cup final meetings with Castellón. This season, they are on course to reclaim their Spanish title and are most people's favourites for the UEFA Futsal Cup.

Experience tells

Castellón may have lost out to Boomerang in the Spanish Cup and be trailing them in the league by eight points, but they have plenty of experience when it comes to the UEFA Futsal Cup. Winners of the first two editions, they have the likes of Javi Rodríguez, Josema and Isco who all played their part last year.

Coach confident
Eduardo García Belda, or Miki as the Castellón coach is known, believes the club have every chance, telling their official website: "The team are coming into form, and everyone is expecting us to reach the final. But we can take nothing for granted."

Vanenburg out

The group also features the Dutch title-holders ZVV West Stars, who are slightly off the pace in this year's domestic championship. To further complicate their chances, they are without the suspended Germaine Vanenburg, the nephew of former Dutch international footballer Gerald Vanenburg.

Boukhari brothers

The squad is entirely made up of Dutch talent, with much resting on the form of Foud El Hamdaoui along with Samir and Mourad Boukhari. The latter pair are the brothers of AFC Ajax star Nourdin Boukhari, currently on loan at NAC Breda. West Stars are the reigning champions of Benelux, after beating Belgium's top team Action 21 Charleroi in December.

Players missed

Like West Stars, Ukrainian champions InterKrAZ are not faring particularly well in their domestic league. They are sixth in the table and coach Stanislav Goncharenko has bemoaned the loss of some of last season's leading players.

Cup hope

However, InterKrAZ are still in the Ukrainian Cup semi-finals, having a 2-1 lead over DneproSpetsStal with the second leg to come on 24 March. The team consists entirely of Ukrainian talent with the likes of international Georgiy Melnikov among the most high profile.