Courtesy: UEFA.com


Juanjo stars as Murcia see off Dinamo

Friday 25 April 2008

by Paul Saffer from Krylatskoe Sport Palace

Two penalty shoot-out saves from ElPozo Murcia FS goalkeeper Juanjo took the Spanish contenders into the UEFA Futsal Cup final and ended the reign of hosts MFK Dinamo Moskva.

Shoot-out drama
Murcia withstood an opening Dinamo barrage before taking an early lead through Ciço, but Pula's equaliser seemed to suggest that the holders would take control. Instead, Murcia dominated the second half but could not prevent extra time or penalties, during which Juanjo saved from Tatu and Cirilo to set up a meeting with fellow first-time finalists MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg on Sunday.

Juanjo saves
Dinamo beat Murcia 5-4 in 2005 to reach their first final – they had not failed to make that stage since – and surged forward from the start. Pula, who won the cup last year with a last-gasp goal in Murcia against Boomerang Interviú, forced Juanjo to save within 90 seconds and the goalkeeper superbly denied Joan before Cirilo and Anatoli Badretdinov went close.

Lead cancelled out
But in the fifth minute Murcia broke through against the run of play. Mauricio cut the ball back from the by-line and waiting in front of goal was Ciço, who tapped in. Dinamo were unbowed, and Juanjo needed to be alert when Fran Serrejón nearly turned Badretdinov's cross into his own net. The resistance was broken with just under four minutes left in the half. Tatu's pass found Pula outside the Murcia box and the hero of 2007 slipped the ball past Juanjo.

Murcia respond
Mauricio nearly restored the lead 30 seconds after the restart but turned a corner agonisingly wide. The Iberians continued to threaten when Álvaro's free-kick was met by Vinicius Elías only for Pavel Stepanov to save. Suddenly busy, the Russian international goalkeeper also kept out Wilde's stinging effort.

Relief
The hosts were rarely able to mount an attack, while Mauricio again called Stepanov into action with ten minutes left, the No1 palming the shot away before tipping over Kike's volley from the resulting corner. However, Murcia goalkeeper Juanjo was a relieved man when Cirilo redirected Tatu's cross just off target as Dinamo rallied during the last few minutes of normal time.

Post struck
In the extra ten minutes, Wilde was denied at point-blank range by Stepanov, before Cirilo hit the post with less than 60 seconds left to signal penalties. Murcia had won the only previous UEFA Futsal Cup shoot-out when beating Action 21 Charleroi to bronze, and Juanjo's heroics ensured a repeat for higher stakes.







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