Maevski heeds Portuguese warning

Russia captain Konstantin Maevski said Portugal's performance against Belarus was a warning for his side of the danger of losing their edge with a game against Serbia on Sunday set to decide their last-eight opponents.

Under a cloud
Portugal – who barring disaster against Spain will play either Serbia or Russia in the UEFA European Futsal Championship quarter-finals on Tuesday – led 2-0 against unfancied Belarus, but went 4-2 behind, restored their lead to 5-4 and then conceded a last-second double penalty to earn a 5-5 draw. The result leaves them all but through to the quarter-finals but under a cloud.

Dangerous situation
"Portugal relaxed against Belarus when they were 2-0 up," defender Maevski told uefa.com. "It could have ended in tears for them, and their third goal scored from the penalty was the decisive moment. Before that, the Belarussians were two goals in front, but when it was 4-3 they just lacked the experience to defend their lead."

Last-eight permutations
In theory, Russia are favourites to win against Serbia, a result that would see them top the section and face the Group D runners-up in Budapest in the last eight, though Maevski said: "We haven't really planned or discussed who we will play in the quarter-finals, Spain or Portugal, as the two have to play each other still."

Serbian calibre
The MFK Dinamo Moskva player is aware, however, that Serbia will be no pushover, though they won their most recent meeting 3-2 in qualifying for the 2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup finals. The fact that they boast Marko Perić, a player who stars in the Russian futsal league for MFK Dina Moskva, is further reason for caution.

Selfless star
"We know the Serbian team well having played them in World Cup qualifying," explained Maevski. "They also have players who play in our league. Marko Perić is a very strong individual player, who stands out in their squad, and we know him very well. It must be noted that these days he plays selflessly for the team."