Courtesy: FIFA.com

Dinamo and Boomerang with one foot in the final

(FIFA.com) 13 Mar 2006

Convincing semi-final first-leg wins for Boomerang Interviú and Dinamo Moskva have seen them put one foot in the final of the UEFA Futsal Cup. The Russian side defeated Kairat Almaty 3-0 in Kazakhstan, while the Spaniards demolished Shakhtar Donetsk 6-1 on their visit to the Ukraine, giving both clubs what should be unassailable leads ahead of the return legs on 24 and 25 March.
Dinamo, runners-up in last year's tournament, breached the Kairat defence after just four minutes with a goal from Olexiy Kudlay. Despite the early setback, the home side refused to let their heads drop and laid siege on the visitor's goal, ably defended by Pavel Stepanov. Kairat came within a whisker away of equalising when their captain Etienne fired a shot against the post, with Yuri Butrin and Ricardo also missing chances to level the match.

Kairat continued to pour forward, roared on by the partisan home crowd at the Baluan Sholak Sport Palace, but an equaliser would prove beyond them. In the second half, Tatu showed the home side how it was done with Dinamo's killer second goal, allowing Aleksandr Rakhimov to seal victory shortly afterwards with his team's third.

The Kazakstani side showed admirable spirit, playing free-flowing attacking football right to the final whistle and creating numerous goalscoring chances. A combination of bad luck and an inspired performance by keeper Stepanov kept Kairat at bay and put Dinamo in pole position to reach the final.

Even so, Rakhimov, scorer of Dinamo's third goal, believes that his side cannot afford to let their guard down in the return game. "If the Kairat players had taken half the chances they created, then we would have lost. I don't think that the tie is over, because they've got a great attack and they can make life difficult for us," he said.

Boomerang hit Shakhtar for six
The other semi-final was a much more one-sided affair, with Boomerang Interviú dominating their game with Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk from start to finish. Boomerang struck the first of their six goals on eight minutes, when Joan latched onto to a majestic pass from Schumacher. Jesus Candelas' side quickly took command of the game, going into the interval with a 3-0 lead after a brace from Andreu.

After the break, the 2004 champions briefly took their foot of the pedal, allowing Shakhtar's Serhiy Zadorozhniy to test Luis Amado in the Boomerang goal. However, the visitors soon came back to the boil, pinning the Ukrainian champions in their own area and probing for openings. The killer blows came midway through the second half, Marquinho and Neto extending Boomerang's lead before Joan scored his second and his team's sixth goal of a sparkling performance. Shakhtar's consolation came from Sytin, who beat Amado, a member of Spain's FIFA Futsal World Championship-winning side, with two minutes left on the clock.



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