Courtesy: UEFA.com


Ekaterinburg put European title on the line

Tuesday 11 November 2008

MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg begin their defence of the UEFA Futsal Cup on Tuesday hoping for a repeat of their spectacular debut last season.

First steps
Three Elite round wins on home soil a year ago took Ekaterinburg to April's final four in Moscow, where they defeated Kairat Almaty before overcameing ElPozo Murcia FS on penalties to take the European title; not bad for a club who have never even been Russian champions. They hope to repeat the first part of that run when they welcome FC Shakhtar Donetsk, Luparense Calcio A5 and Slov-Matic Fofo Bratislava for Elite round Group A, running until Friday.

High spirits
Ekaterinburg go into the mini-tournament in high spirits after 2-1 and 3-0 wins at MFK CSKA Moskva last week that took them to the top of the Russian Super League table, one point ahead of fellow UEFA Futsal Cup contenders MFK Dinamo Moskva, who signed one of Viz-Sinara's key men, Vladislav Shayakhmetov, in the summer. Goalkeeper Sergei Zuev, defender Dmitri Prudnikov, striker Konstantin Agapov and the versatile Damir Khamadiev all helped Russia to the FIFA Futsal World Cup semi-finals in October, to prove the quality the club still have. Captain Zuev admitted: "Since returning home we hardly had any time to rest."

Shakhtar challenge
They finish their fixtures against Shakhtar, who have experience as 2005/06 semi-finalists and lead the Ukrainian league following a 6-3 win at Lokomotiv Kharkov last week, helped by a hat-trick from Vassura, scorer of five Main round goals in September. Shakhtar player Igor Moskvychov, who turned 37 last Thursday, said: "It will be extremely tough to qualify for the final four from this group. We have to play to the max in each match. Our guys have great motivation."

Luparense strength
Luparense are yet to lose a European match, having last season departed unbeaten on their debut and won all three Main round games this time They have won both their Serie A matches so far this season and four of their players, Nando Grana, Anderson Pellegrini, Jocimar Jubanski and Patrick Nora, helped Italy to World Cup bronze in Brazil. Coach Jesús Velasco said: "We know that it will not be easy but we came here to do everything possible to reach the final four."

Tough for Bratislava
Against opponents like these it will be tough for a Bratislava team that secured only one point on their Elite round bow last year having lost 1-0 to Luparense in the previous stage. Coach Ján Janík said: "We need to be realistic: One point will be a success." Unbeaten at the top of the Slovakian league as they seek a fifth straight title, Bratislava beat Czech champions FK Era-Pack Chrudim 2-1 in a home friendly last Tuesday to warm up for this mini-tournament. And having had that result against a team that beat them 5-1 in last season's competition, Janík is not giving up hope. "I told my players, 'They will be the hardest matches of your life'. To be honest, I don't know exactly what to expect, but we all yearn for a surprise."





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