Dinamo need full power

With the Elite round of the UEFA Futsal Cup to take place from 4 December, uefa.com is taking a closer look at each of the 16 sides involved. Today we examine Group B hosts MFK Dinamo Moskva, runners-up for the last two seasons but with no easy task against former semi-finalists FC Shakhtar Donetsk and Sporting Clube de Portugal plus Romania's CIP Deva, with only one place in April's final four up for grabs.

Superb record
Dinamo were probably the group hosts the rest wanted to avoid, with two consecutive runs to the final and four straight Russian titles since their foundation in May 2002, though their two-year reign as Russian Cup holders was ended last season by MFK Spartak Shelkovo. The man behind this success is 45-year-old Aleksandr Shibaev, who has been part of the coaching team since their foundation, having previously led MFK Norilski Nikel and the Russia universities team following a fine top-level playing career. He is currently at the Dinamo helm, having been promoted prior to last season's European final, which was lost 9-7 on aggregate to Boomerang Interviú 12 months after an extra-time defeat by Action 21 Charleroi.

Title rave
This term Shibaev's side made a shaky start in the Russian Super League by their standards, including defeats by Shelkovo and MFK CSKA Moskva. However, two 5-1 wins at high-fliers TTG-Java Yugorsk has lifted Dinamo into second place, three points adrift of VIZ-Sinara Ek.burg, ahead of the agerly-awaited derby double-header with MFK Dina Moskva, who dominated Russian futsal in the 1990s just as their neighbours have done more recently. Dinamo also meet Dina in the Russian Cup quarter-finals next month.

Familiar faces
Still, the Dinamo squad will be familiar to those who have followed the UEFA Futsal Cup in recent years, with two world-class goalkeepers in Pavel Stepanov and Olexiy Popov, defender Pavel Kobzar - their only league ever-present this season - Konstantin Maevski, who has chipped in with six goals, plus Brazilians Tatu, Joan and leading striker Sirilo, between them scoring 28 times this term.

Hosting honour
They will stage their matches at the Druzhba Sports Hall, built for the 1980 Olympics and scene of the second legs of both the last two finals, and executive director Svetlana Potapova is happy to have the honour of being hosts. "UEFA offered all the clubs who made it to the Elite round the chance to host mini-tournaments," she said. "And I believe they chose the best of all those who applied. We have hosted a number of competitions involving the strongest European clubs and there have been no complaints from UEFA, just praise."

Tough opponents
As for the matches themselves, Shibaev mused: "Two of the four groups, ours and Group A, are much stronger than the others. While CIP Deva are clear underdogs, Dinamo, Sporting and Shakhtar Donetsk will be battling for qualification. We know the Donetsk side well as we have played them twice in the UEFA Cup. We won quite easily [6-2] in March 2005 but we needed a Sirilo penalty to defeat them last year in Belgrade, they had grown much tougher. They like to play defensively and it is not easy to play against them. Sporting represent a highly developed football powerhouse and that says it all. Besides, there are many Brazilians on their team and this almost always is a sign of quality."