Iberian rivals face off for final place

The atmosphere at the Multiusos Gondomar Coração de Ouro has been boisterous for all three of Portugal's games at the UEFA European Futsal Championship – and it will be electric on Friday night when the hosts take on holders Spain for a place in the final.

Contrast
It is Portugal's first semi-final in this competition, while Spain, three-time champions of Europe, have never been absent from this stage. Both teams picked up two wins and a draw in their group matches, though the hosts finished behind Italy on goal difference. The runners-up slot earned Portugal a 13th meeting with their Iberian neighbours, against whom they have recorded just one win and one draw.

'Respect'
The victory came in their latest encounter, a friendly two years ago in Salamanca, although Spain had prevailed in a 2005 European Championship group game. Portugal coach Orlando Duarte, whose side have drawn with Italy and beaten the Czech Republic and Romania to get this far, knows they will have to be at their best to reach the final. "They are a strong team, they are the defending champions and we have enormous respect for the way they play and the talent they have," Duarte said. "We will fight all the way to beat them, we have the belief in our camp that we can win this semi-final and then the tournament. We will need to play our best football and have a little bit of luck, but let's hope we can do it." His star player Ricardinho sat out training with a thigh strain yesterday but is expected to play.

Motivation
Spain stuttered on Matchday 2 when they conceded late on to draw 1-1 with Serbia, yet they revived themselves to thrash 2005 runners-up Russia 4-1 on Wednesday – suggesting the world and European champions are hitting peak form. "Playing against Portugal will motivate us, as we always perform much better under pressure," coach José Venancio told uefa.com.

'Great opponents'
"Our objective was to finish first in our group and we achieved that. We know it won't be easy but we have our chance to win. Portugal will be great and difficult opponents. They play at home, which is an advantage. They are good in every aspect of the game." Andreu was one of the Spain players who helped to overcome Portugal 3-1 in Ostrava two years ago, and he is relishing the rematch. He said: "We know we will have the fans against us, but we like to play in this sort of atmosphere, a full house."