Courtesy: UEFA.com

Mission accomplished for Candelas

Monday, 11 December 2006

by Lucy Turner

from Barcelona

Boomerang Interviú coach Jesús Candelas was a satisfied man after the UEFA Futsal Cup holders continued their bid for an unprecedented third triumph by booking a place in the final four.

Objective achieved
Needing a draw to win Elite round Group A last night, Boomerang scored twice in the first three minutes against Group A hosts Arzignano Grifo C/5 and eventually prevailed 5-2 in Verona to add to comfortable defeats of CC LKW Jistebnik and MNK Split. "We achieved our objective which was to win with a good performance," said Candelas. "The 2-0 lead changed our plan and made us play with a different style, which meant we were superior to our opponents. The Elite round has been very positive because these three matches helped us get stronger as the group went on and helped us achieve an important objective for the club in a tough group."

Familiar foes
There will be three familiar rivals for Boomerang in the semi-finals, which will be played on 26 April, two days before the final and third-place match take place - all at one venue to be selected in January. The team Boomerang beat to win the final last season, MFK Dinamo Moskva, are through along with the club that deposed Boomerang as champions the year before, Action 21 Charleroi. Also involved are El Pozo Murcia FS, who took the Spanish title in 2005/06 to end Boomerang's four-year reign having lost to them in the previous three play-off finals. This term Murcia drew 3-3 at Boomerang in the league in October, and they meet again on 10 March with the European champions currently five point clear of their rivals.

Charleroi target
Candelas knows who he wants in the semi-final draw in March. "Action 21 are the weakest side," he said. "There are teams who have been knocked out that are stronger than the Belgians. Therefore, it'll be a piece of cake for whoever gets drawn against them because the match won't be as tiring."




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