No fear for Umeå as Zvezda arrive

Umeå IK coach Mika Sankala insists it is "only half-time" as his side strive to overturn a 2-0 first-leg defeat by Zvezda-2005 and reach the UEFA Women's Cup final for the third successive season.

'Half-time'
Goals early in each half earned Zvezda a ninth consecutive European victory last Sunday despite playing the final half hour with ten players following Valentina Savchenkova's dismissal. While understandably disappointed with the scoreline, Sankala is by no means downbeat and is confident that Umeå can make home advantage tell in the second leg. "After the match in Russia we're at half-time now," he told uefa.com. "The difference is that the second half is 90 minutes and that we are at home. Turning this deficit around in 90 minutes is possible."

'Valuable' time
Although the opener took place on Sunday, Umeå opted to remain in Russia for two more days for a debriefing and training before flying home to Sweden. "Those days were valuable for us," added Sankala. "On Monday we gathered to discuss what we needed to improve upon for the return leg, and to air our collective disappointment with the result. By Tuesday we had put the defeat behind us and we had a good training session before flying home in the evening."

Bachmann banned
While boasting the luxury of a fully-fit squad, Sankala is unable to call upon one of his most influential players because of suspension. Swiss international Ramona Bachmann was cautioned for the second time in the knockout phase in Russia, although her coach is far from perturbed. "Ramona has qualities that few players have," said Sankala. "Her absence means that other players will need to shoulder a greater responsibility but I'm not worried. We and Zvezda are evenly balanced when it comes to suspensions since they had a player sent off last Sunday."

Flight changes
Having played their home leg 500km away in Kazan because their home ground does not have a UEFA licence, Zvezda are embarking upon another gruelling journey to reach Umea. With no direct flights, coach Aleksandr Grigoryan and his players will change planes twice just to reach Sweden before spending several hours on the road. "Our trip to Sweden will be long as we fly to Moscow first, then to Frankfurt and after that to Stockholm," said Grigoryan. "This is not the finish, though, as we will then spend seven hours on the bus."

No problem
Savchenkova, Russia's Player of the Year in 2008, will miss the second leg after her 60th-minute dismissal, and fellow midfielder Maria Dyatchkova is soon to undergo surgery on a knee injury. While the first leg was played on grass, the return will take place on an artificial pitch, but, with their home ground having the same surface, Grigoryan is remaining sanguine. "It will not be a problem for us because we are capable of playing in such conditions," he said.