“Inter” has previously won three UEFA Futsal Cups, which is a record, and in two cases it was a Russian team that they beat in the final game. Today, the Spanish team will compete with the ambitious debutants of “Ugra”.

Having beaten “Benfica” on penalties, the champion of Russia “Gazprom-UGRA” in the first draw made it to the finals. But the suspended goalkeeper Zviad Kupatadze won’t be able to help the team, while the participation of the best scorer Eder Lima is in doubt. In their turn, the Spanish champions is at risk of losing their Wizard Ricardinho, who injured his ankle in yesterday’s duel with “Pescara (4-2). Moreover, another Portuguese star of “Inter”, Cardinal, also did not take part in Saturday’s training, healing the injury.

Ricardinho in doubt Kupatadze suspended.
Disqualification of Kupatadze is a huge blow for Ugra since he’s not just the main goalkeeper, but a truly charismatic leader. Sergey Slemzin did a good substation to Kupatadze in the match against “Benfica”, including the penalty shoot-out, but still it is a serious problem to “Gazprom”.

Perhaps “Inter” will also suffer a big loss in the face of Ricardinho. Despite the depth of the spanish champions bench, the absence of the Portuguese star will weaken even such a powerful team. Ricardinho, whose participation is in doubt due to an ankle injury, has helped a lot in the decisive matches, including the final of the UEFA Futsal Cup 2010, when he helped “Benfica” beat that one “Inter”.

“Benfica” could repeatedly  go through “Ugra’s” defense in key moments of Friday’s game, including the ending of the regular time when the Portuguese Grand managed to draw the score. In overtime the “eagles” quite quickly took the lead, but the Russian club again managed to find an adequate response. What will it be like in the final? Since the defense of “Inter” under the guidance of an experienced Ortiz is a different thing. The defense of “Ugra” will have to endure a much more difficult test. However, the victory of the Russian champion over the owner of the trophy, “Kairat”, in the elite round with the score 5-2 shows that there are no unattainable goals for the team of Kaka.

For the seventh time in the last 11 years the final of the tournament is divided among Russian and Spanish representatives, the countries which national teams competed for the recent European Championship gold in February (for the fifth time in ten draws). In this competition Spain has advantage both at club level and national team level.