Imperious Interviú claim third UEFA Futsal Cup

Interviú Madrid won the UEFA Futsal Cup for a record third time with a comfortable final victory against hosts MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg.

Spanish success
Defending the European title, Ekaterinburg had never lost a match in this competition having succeeded on their debut last season. However, by half-time they were 3-0 down to goals from Daniel and Jordi Torrás, plus Schumacher's penalty. Daniel's free-kick in the 25th minute produced an immediate response from Konstantin Agapov, but Juanra's late strike ensured that for the fifth time in the tournament's eight-year history, the trophy would go to Spain.

Zuev saves
The opening exchanges were tight, but Schumacher – whose two early goals set up Interviú's 5-0 semi-final defeat of Kairat Almaty – soon threatened, forcing a fine save from Sergei Zuev. Ekaterinburg's goalkeeper was superb in last year's final and again on Friday in the tense 2-0 defeat of MFK Dinamo Moskva, and he got his legs in the way of another effort from Schumacher, who, like Daniel and Interviú No1 Luis Amado, was also part of the 2004 and 2006 triumphs.

Daniel strikes
Zuev was beaten when Neto, the other double goalscorer against Kairat, hit the post after an intelligent Daniel cross, and at the other end Konstantin Timoschenkov's strike suffered the same fate. However, from Daniel's shot the ball deflected in off the woodwork to give Interviú an eight-minute lead. Zuev prevented a second when he clawed off the line when Amado's long throw nearly deflected in through his legs off Daniel's flick.

Lead stretched
However, Interviú's second goal arrived just before the midway point of the first half, Betão rolling the ball backwards to Torrás, who beat Zuev from a similar angle as Daniel for the first goal. Things got worse for Zuev when he brought down Gabriel in the box and Schumacher gave the keeper no chance with his penalty. Ekaterinburg were stung, but Artem Chudinov did make Amado save not long before the break.

Quickfire goals
The hosts started the second half in high spirits but were vulnerable to the counter and from a typically strong Amado roll, Betão slipped Damir Khamadiev and was only denied by a Zuev stretch. It was 4-0 soon afterwards, though, as Daniel's free-kick eluded Zuev's grasp. The Ekaterinburg reponse was immediate; Pavel Chistopolov's back-heel was lashed in by Agapov.

Clincher
Suddenly the home fans were making themselves heard again, and their players were certainly inspired. However, plenty of Interviú's squad have experience of big international finals for club and country, and proved adept at repelling the Ekaterinburg attacks, not to mention breaking at speed as when Ortiz made Zuev save again. Ekaterinburg's spirit did not let up, but neither did Interviú's determination, and with two minutes left, and Alexei Mokhov on as a flying goalkeeper for the hosts, Juanra stole the ball and rolled it into an empty net. Betão hit the crossbar with a double penalty, but victory was long sealed, moving Interviú one title ahead of the only other multiple winners, Spanish rivals Playas de Castellón FS.