Courtesy: UEFA.com


Kairat still in futsal title hunt

Monday 17 March 2008

by Timur Kamashev from Almaty

UEFA Futsal Cup semi-finalists Kairat Almaty kept their Kazakhstan title hopes alive by the skins of their teeth at the weekend as they picked up four points in two games with leaders Aktobe BTA.

Play-off likely
At kick-off in Almaty, previously unbeaten Aktobe lead Kairat by nine points, though they had four games left to their rivals' six. However, that meant that Kairat could ill afford a defeat in either match if they were to remain on course for a fifth straight championship. Despite the absence of Rafael, Kairat won the first game 7-4, but a day later let a two-goal lead slip as Stanislav Kozin struck two minutes from time to secure a 3-3 draw. If both Kairat and Aktobe win their remaining matches, the title will be decided by a play-off. Aktobe's two remaining fixtures are at home against Ayat Rudniy, while Kairat first meet Alfa Rudniy twice before playing two away games against Tulpar-Ikar Karagandy on 8 and 9 April.

Semi-final
After that, Kairat will focus on their UEFA Futsal Cup semi-final against MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg on 25 April in the tournament hosted by MFK Dinamo Moskva, who beat Almaty at this stage two years ago. Kairat coach Alecio said: "I think that we can beat Ekaterinburg. It doesn't mean it's going to be a cakewalk of course. Dinamo and ElPozo [Murcia FS] are favourites, but I don't think we would be shaking when playing them as well. This is not our first semi-final so this time we look to win. Now we will analyse the opposition, it is important to know their weaknesses. You can't call us a team of stars, we're playing collective futsal and we know how to get the best out of this tactics."






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