Courtesy: UEFA.com

Bacaro shows perfect timing

Wednesday, 10 January 2007

UEFA Futsal Cup final four contenders El Pozo Murcia CF are usefully placed to keep the Iberian Cup in Spain after coming away from the first leg against Sporting Clube de Portugal with a 1-1 away draw thanks to a last-gasp Vinicius Bacaro goal.

Boomerang example
In the third of the encounters between the champions of Spain and Portugal, Murcia are hoping to emulate Boomerang Interviú, who defeated SL Benfica to claim the cup in 2003/04 and 2005/06 - the seasons in which they also took the European crown, which El Pozo also hope to lift for the first time when the final four takes place from 26-28 April, also involving their Madrid rivals. And they were looking for a good result against Sporting, who departed the UEFA Futsal Cup in last month's Elite round, to take into their home return on 31 January.

Dramatic equaliser
However, it seemed that Sporting could have the upper hand when Adolfo gave them the lead on 15 minutes from a double penalty awarded after the visitors passed five fouls, and it got worse for Murcia when Vinicius, who unlike Álvaro passed a late fitness test, was given a red card with two minutes remains. But 18 seconds from the end Sporting lost the ball on the edge of their area and Bacaro struck a dramatic equaliser.

Duda impressed
Murcia coach Duda said: "This was a balanced match and I think the result is fair. I only knew Sporting from what I've seen of the match between them and AR Freixieiro last Sunday. I again saw some of the players who faced Freixieiro but they looked like a different team." Sporting coach Paulo Fernandes added: "We are going to adopt a different strategy [in the second leg] with faster players, as their surface is a fast one."



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