Portugal placed in Serbia's sights

Delighted to be staying in Budapest for Serbia's UEFA European Futsal Championship quarter-final against Portugal, coach Aca Kovačević is hoping their 4-3 win against Russia augurs well for their next challenge.

Ancient history
Portugal and Serbia – or at least Yugoslavia - last met competitively back in 1995 in qualifying for the first UEFA European Futsal Tournament, with Yugoslavia, featuring a young Kovačević as their captain, won 7-4 in a game in Turin. The Serbia coach was among the scorers that night, which may have given him quiet reason for confidence ahead of Tuesday's fixture, as his nation aim to reach their first semi-final.

'Something special'
"Portugal are one of the best teams in Europe and it will be the same as the game against Russia; very, very hard," he said. "We have time to prepare though. We will watch the games they have played so far to analyse how they play, and we will have a bit of a rest because it is a very important game for us and we will look to do something special like we did against Russia."

Spain dazzle
The win against Russia was doubly crucial for Serbia, meaning as it did that they avoided a punishing fixture against European champions Spain, who Kovačević has watched with not a little awe as they demolished Belarus and Portugal in Debrecen-based Group D. "I have been impressed with how Spain have played," he said. "They are playing a new style of futsal and it is definitely not good to play them."

School support
Russia will have that dubious honour instead, and while Serbia's Marko Perić and Vladimir Lazić are within a caution of a one-match ban, spirits are high, with a good contingent of fans – not least those from Budapest's Serbian school, who attended the Russian game – expected for the meeting with Orlando Duarte's side, who have yet to receive a booking in Hungary.

Counterattacking threat
Portugal, semi-finalists at home in 2007, are yet to hit form in Hungary, drawing 5-5 with unfancied Belarus and losing 6-1 to Span, scraping through on goal difference, perhaps missing the injured Ricardinho. Duarte is wary of Serbia, telling uefa.com: "Serbia defend very deep and our team tends to struggle against opponents which pick counterattack as their main weapon. We will have to play it safe, pretty much the same way we did in the first 15 or 16 minutes against Belarus. Serbia have a similar game to Belarus but with much more individual quality. We have been performing reasonably in the first halves our matches but we have to find a solution for the dip in quality in the second periods."