Perić proving a Serbian sensation

Serbia may have lost their opening UEFA European Futsal Championship fixture 5-3 against Russia, and be facing possible elimination with defeat by holders Spain this evening, but one of their players has already marked himself out as one of the game's best.

Good form
Marko Perić, at 23, is fast emerging as a world-class talent. Against 2005 runners-up Russia in Gondomar he was in fine form, notably with a long-range strike that pulled the score back to 3-2 and preceded a surprise equaliser. Although Russia went on to win, it was a creditable performance in Serbia's first finals appearance since the former Yugoslavia qualified in 1999.

'Fantastic' opponents
Now Perić, who says it is a "dream" to play in these finals, is looking forward to the encounter with Spain, and a reunion with some players he faced when KMF Marbo Beograd lost 5-1 to ElPozo Murcia FS in the UEFA Futsal Cup Elite round last month. "It's a very good feeling when you play against a Spanish team because you learn so much," he said. "Maybe we don't have such a good chance of winning but we will try to do our best. We respect the European and world champions Spain and I am very happy to play against the best teams in the world. All Spain's players are fantastic but in my opinion Kike is their best player, along with Daniel and Javier Rodríguez. But they are all very good and dangerous."

Kike praise
Kike in fact is quite an admirer of Perić, saying this week that he is becoming an "important player". Perić said: "It is a big honour for me when a player like Kike says good things." And the Serbia man could himself be getting even more experience of Spanish futsal soon. "I am sure that in December I will go to another club," Perić added. "I have three or four clubs interested, some from Spain, some from other countries. I am sure next year I will play abroad because our national league is not so strong and every player who wants to improve has to go somewhere else."