Murcia crowned kings of Spain

ElPozo Murcia FS gained revenge for their UEFA Futsal Cup semi-final defeat by Boomerang Interviú by beating their rivals for the Spanish championship this weekend.

Tables turned
Final four hosts Murcia lost to a last-second Boomerang goal in April, before the holders conceded their European title to MFK Dinamo Moskva. But Murcia, also beaten by Boomerang in this season's Spanish Cup final as well as the league play-off deciders in 2002/03, 2003/04 and 2004/05 turned the table by winning the first two games of a best-of-three series.

Dramatic tie
Boomerang, who finished top of the regular season table, were at home for the first match, and recovered from trailing 2-0, 3-1. 6-3 and 7-4 to level the scores at the end of 40 minutes thanks to Gabriel's hat-trick. But at the end of the extra five minutes Mauricio claimed his third of the game for defending champions Murcia, who won 8-7 and knew that if they also triumphed at home in the second game, they would not have to return to Boomerang's arena just outside Madrid for a decider.

Mauricio winner
The venue where the UEFA Futsal Cup finals were staged, the Palacio de Deportes de Murcia, was packed to its 7,500 capacity and the fans were delighted when Vinicius Elias and Bacaro Vinicius put ElPozo 2-0 up on 14 minutes. Schumacher quickly pulled one back and Edgar Bertoni equalised early in the second half but with ten minutes left that man Mauricio struck again for what proved the title-clinching 3-2 win.

Duda delight
Murcia will enter the UEFA Futsal Cup for the third time next season, and coach Duda said: "To win the league after what happened in the UEFA Futsal Cup is something very encouraging and demonstrates that this team knew how to respond to that setback. For that reason, the squad deserves very great applause." Jesús Candelas, coach of two-time UEFA Futsal Cup winners Boomerang, will miss out on Europe for the only time apart from the inaugural 2001/02 edition, and said: "This defeat must make us reflect."

Benfica title
His side's reverse means that two of the final four contenders from 2006/07 will not be back next season as Action 21 Charleroi missed out on the Belgian title. However, the team that lost to Boomerang in the 2003/04 final, SL Benfica, will represent Portugal in the competition. In the three-match final of the league play-off against reigning champions Sporting Clube de Portugal, regular season winners Benfica triumphed away 4-1 last week, and although they were defeated 2-1 last night in their second home match today they were 1-0 victors.