Joan injects Dinamo with energy

One year ago MFK Dinamo Mosvka staged the second leg of the UEFA Futsal Cup final trailing 4-3 to Action 21 Charleroi. The Russian champions produced a tremendous performance to force extra time, but eventually lost 10-9 on aggregate. Now if they want to go one better they must come back from 6-3 down against Spanish giants Boomerang Interviú.

Optimism
That margin of defeat in Madrid on Saturday was harsh on Dinamo, who conceded the last goal ten seconds from the end. But their players held their own, with impressive performances from the likes of Sirilo, Pelé, and, another man born in Brazil, Joan. The latter has overcome a string of injuries to be Dinamo's joint-top scorer in this competition with eight goals, and despite the loss in Spain he retains an air of optimism.

'Good game to watch'
"It was a very good game to watch," he told uefa.com. "We played against a very good team in Boomerang with very good players from the national teams of Brazil and Spain. We had very good chances but we didn't manage to utilise them. For the second game I guess we will prepare even better and try to do better. We will play in front of our own supporters and we will try to change things in our favour."

Fightback
Dinamo led Boomerang 3-2 just two minutes from the break before a quickfire double from the Intercontinental Futsal Cup holders turned the tide. "Boomerang's fightback was very good," Joan said. "But Boomerang also let their rivals play and give chances to the opposite team. And we were playing against world champions."

Contrast with Charleroi
Joan might just be the man for this situation; last year against Charleroi, with Dinamo having gone 2-1 down at half-time in their home leg, he struck to give his team hope and did so again after they conceded first in the extra ten minutes. And with that experience he is well able to contrast their two final rivals. "Charleroi were an all-Brazilian team, they won because they know each other very well and their shooting was very accurate," Joan said. "Boomerang are a more individualistic team with star players, that is the difference."

Schumacher hat-trick
One of those stars is Joan's international team-mate Schumacher, who completed a hat-trick on Saturday with that last-gasp goal. Joan said: "I have played with him for Brazil. I told the whole team that he is a very dangerous player. He is really good at defence and attack. If we give him space he always will get goals."

Spanish strength
Players like Schumacher are attracted to Spain partly because that nation boasts probably Europe's strongest league - Boomerang are aiming to give the División de Honor its fourth UEFA Futsal Cup in five editions. Russian teams are currently investing heavily in an attempt to catch up, but Joan admits they are not quite there yet.

'Russia getting stronger'
"I guess we don't have as strong a team as Boomerang in Russia, they are very good from a tactical point of view," Joan said. "The Spanish league is one of the world's strongest leagues. Players with big names, famous players. But Russia is getting stronger and stronger each year and we are in the process of putting together good teams also. But can Russia boast European champions come Sunday evening? "We will win this game with the help of our supporters, we will have to do our job - what Boomerang did in Madrid, we will try to do in Moscow."