Courtesy: UEFA.com


Murcia celebrating Spanish success

Monday, 26 June 2006

El Pozo Murcia FS have made it fourth time lucky and been crowned Spanish champions after a thrilling play-off victory against Polaris World Cartagena.

Kike clincher
With the play-off series tied at 2-2, El Pozo welcomed Cartagena to Murcia for the decisive game and never looked back once Spanish international Kike’s second-minute goal had set them on their way to a 4-2 victory. The triumph, in front of 7,500 passionate home fans, means El Pozo will take their place in the 2006/07 UEFA Futsal Cup alongside defending champions Boomerang Interviú, who had lost to Cartagena in the semi-finals.

Duda delight
Murcia coach Duda could not hide his delight after his side clinched only the second title in their history, having fallen at the final hurdle in the previous three seasons. "If I could have chosen a way for us to be champions, then it would have been by winning the fifth match," he said. The club had finished seven points ahead of European title-holders Boomerang and a further eight in front of Cartagena in the regular season and were always the favourites to land their first title since 1997/98.

European entry
Although this is their only championship since the introduction of the UEFA Futsal Cup, Murcia have competed with Europe’s élite before. In the 2004/05 season, they reached the second qualifying round after being granted Spain’s entry for that season because holders Boomerang had also won the domestic league. Having been denied a place in the final because of a dramatic 5-4 defeat against MFK Dinamo Moskva, Murcia have plenty to prove next time around.




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