Courtesy: UEFA.com


Dinamo fighting fit but wary of rivals

Friday 7 November 2008

Having lost hold of the UEFA Futsal Cup on home territory in April, MFK Dinamo Moskva begin their bid to win it back on Saturday in Zagreb.

Rivals
Dinamo, who had reached three finals in a row before their last-four defeat by ElPozo Murcia FS, are taking on hosts MNK Nacional Zagreb, Romania's ACS Odorheiu Secuiesc and Araz Naxçivan of Azerbaijan in Elite round Group C, with only the winners to progress. Given a bye to this round, the Russian champions are the only team who competed in both of the first two final four events in contention to reach the third this season. They occupy unfamiliar territory in their domestic Super League, second place, despite two wins earlier this week against FC Spartak Schelkovo, though their injury concerns are lifting.

Assessment
Coach Yuri Rudnev told uefa.com: "Cirilo is still feeling the effects of a knee ligament strain. He played against FC Spartak Shelkovo, but he will be able to help us only for a short period. Joan's condition has improved significantly after injury and he will be very useful for us in tight games. Goalkeeper Alexey Popov had slight concussion, but is OK now." Rudnev is expecting a tough challenge in Croatia. "Araz reinforced their squad with three Brazilian players and are aiming for the final four this year,"' he added. "Nacional could also take their chance as hosts, as they have powerful players. As for Odorheiu , they play athletic futsal. They are tough opponents, but we know how to counter such teams."

Nacional form
Nacional, who start against Araz and end on Tuesday by meeting Dinamo, came second behind Murcia in their Elite round group last year and go into this mini-tournament at full strength and top of the Croatian league, with winger Matija Capar in especially good form. "Our goal is to win a chance to battle for first place in the last match against Dinamo Moskva," defender Kujtim Morina said. "Our fans will give us an advantage and we will try to be at our best. We are certain that Dinamo are favourites, as their budget is maybe 20 times bigger than ours, but we can be a threat."

Hungarian flavour
Odorheiu are representing Romania but have a squad with a distinct Hungarian flavour, including that country's national coach, Mihály Kozma. Three defeats in their first eight league games, plus Monday's 4-4 draw against Spicom Sfantu Gheorghe, have left Odorheiu in third, but after CIP Deva put up a good showing in this round for both of the last two seasons, their successors as Romanian champions have a full roster to pick from and are keen to continue to improve their nation's coefficient.

Dominant force
Araz have won the last four Azeri titles, no mean feat in a country where futsal is a popular sport. Indeed Dina Moskva, the club which dominated in Russia before Dinamo's rise, trace their roots to Azerbaijan. Although Araz play their home games 450km from Naxcivan in Baku, they have a big following and lead the way in the league this season, where they are unbeaten after seven matches. Boyukaga Hajiyev took over as coach at the start of the campaign, having previously led football sides MKT Araz, FK Baku and FC Traktorsazi of Iran. He secured three Main round wins to take Araz to this stage for only the second time, and said: "Now we'll try to prove ourselves against stronger opponents. We have managed to strengthen our squad, and our newcomers should help us to produce some good results."





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