Courtesy: UEFA

Boomerang bidding for second title

Thursday, 9 February 2006

Interviú Boomerang have nothing less than European glory in their sights after a commanding display in the UEFA Futsal Cup second qualifying round.

High spirits
The 2004 winners were the only one of the eight teams involved at this stage of the competition to take a 100 per cent record from their three matches, winning 11-0, 5-2 and 4-2 against Cristal Noir MB Morlanwelz, Kairat Almaty and SL Benfica respectively. Not surprisingly, coach Jesús Candelas was in high spirits after the Lisbon mini-tournament.

'Key match'
"Our performance was good, especially in the first game against Morlanwelz which was a key match for us," he said. "The team responded well. We want to win the title again because last season we were just 20 seconds away from making it to the final." Boomerang are also eager to make up for losing the Spanish Cup final last month to Lobelle de Santiago, with Candelas calling their European form "a psychological boost".

Surprise package
While all-conquering Boomerang will meet Ukrainian title-holders FC Shakhtar Donetsk in next month's semi-finals, Kairat Almaty's reward for finishing second in Group A is a last-four tie against MFK Dinamo Moskva, the 2005 runners-up. The Kazakhstani champions surprised everyone by qualifying ahead of hosts Benfica.

'Big thanks'
Despite losing to Boomerang, they drew 3-3 with the Portuguese side and then crushed Morlanwelz, the Belgian debutants, 5-1 thanks to five different goalscorers. One of them, captain Etienne, put their success down to teamwork and strong support. "The victory was made possible by the efforts of every player," he said. "Our morale was great and big thanks go to our fans who supported us both in Latvia in the first qualifying round and now in Portugal."

Memorable occasion
Yuri Butrin, who struck a hat-trick against Benfica, was pleased his team were able to give such a strong account of themselves. He said: "I am very happy we did not look inferior against strong opposition. Some of them will remember us for a long time. The appetite grows as we eat, so we have only one goal – to win the UEFA Futsal Cup." With the club continuing to dominate domestically as well, few would write them off.

Learning curve
For Benfica and Morlanwelz, there is always next year. Both are going well in their respective leagues and will hope to qualify again. Marco Bartolotti, the Belgians' coach, was particularly prepared to look on the bright side. "Looking back at the tournament we can be satisfied, as it was the first time we have got so far. We hope to learn from this in the future."



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