Benfica welcome Luparense opener

With Luparense C/5 coach Sito Rivera sitting by his side, SL Benfica's André Lima boldly stated the Serie A1 team were the ideal opponents for O Glorioso in the UEFA Futsal Cup semi-finals.

The Italian and Portuguese sides are preparing to meet at the magnificent Pavilhão Atlántico in Lisbon on Friday and the hosts' trainer raised the tension ahead of the game by stating he was happy to have avoided the tournament's other semi-finalists, Araz Naxçivan and Interviú Madrid. "If you look at it, of the four teams here Araz are the underdogs so we'd have been under immense pressure to beat them," the former Portuguese international explained.

"Against Interviú we'd have had the psychological factor of knowing we've never beaten them in an eliminator, so before the draw my preference would have been to meet Luparense even though I know we'll be playing a strong side."

Lima is no stranger to the competition's final stage having reached it once before as a player with Benfica in 2004. Having returned the Eagles to Europe's elite, the coach now believes they are better prepared this time to go all the way. "The 2004 final was an important learning curve," said Lima of the two-legged showpiece loss to Interviú.

"Since then we've improved in so many aspects. Being here is something really important for us and we're keen to show our futsal and to test ourselves against the best from Spain, Italy and Azerbaijan," he continued before outlining Benfica's strengths. "We have a great spirit within the team and our desire here is to win."

Undaunted by the potential burden of being hosts, Lima assured the assembled press that the responsibility would bring out the best in his players. "It's crucial that we are playing in our city and in an arena that is important to the country as a whole," he said.

Sito Rivero, meanwhile, conceded that home advantage was something he envied and expects his opponents to be spurred on by a vociferous support. "Playing against the hosts is not ideal but all the sides here are strong," the Spanish-born coach said ahead of Luparense's first appearance at this stage. "Benfica are a team that didn't arrive here by chance but we have our own ambitions and we want to go as far as we possibly can.

"We are going to play to our strengths which you will see in the rhythm at which we play and in the individual quality at our disposal," he concluded.