Nuno Dias' side secure place in the UEFA Futsal Cup final with a win against the holders

A touch of magic from Merlim secured Sporting CP's place in the UEFA Futsal Cup final this Friday, on a magical afternoon that saw Alvalade's heroes beat Ugra 2-1.

Although packed with many of the world's best futsal superstars, both sides made nervous starts to the encounter. Chishkala and Leo tangled early on, after the Brazilian-born Kazakh received a warm ovation from the home crowd. Leo himself was hurry for goals, trying his luck on several occasions (2', 3' and 13'), including with one shot that hammered off the woodwork.

With no goals before the break, their was little more to comment on first-half, other than the fact that both sides reached the limit of four fouls with three minutes to play.

It was in the second-half that the afternoon sparked to life, with goals and some cool heads seeing Nuno Dias' side edge ahead. Cavinato was unable to capitalise on an opportunity in the 23rd minute, but the warning shot had been fired and some brilliant skill from Merlim saw the Sporting CP star breeze past Chishkala and fire in the game's first.

Holding a slender lead, Sporting CP began to push forward, dominating the reigning UEFA Futsal Cup holders with unbreakable concentration. Diogo, introduced in the second-half, was the main instigator of the Alvalade attacking efforts and with 11 minutes left on the clock he skillfully moved past three players and took the paint off the post with a stinging shot, before actually hitting the woodwork full-on two minutes later.

Dieguinho finally made it 2-0 a few minutes later, after a confusing spell of play that saw him poke the ball in while already down on the floor under a tackle. The Ugra coach Kaká responded as expected, bringing on a forward goalkeeper with 6'34'' left. Nuno Dias had warned his side would have to suffer to come out on top and that is exactly what happened for the rest of the encounter.

Ugra's goal with 1'49'' left to play cranked up the nerves again, but some heroic defending kept the Russians at bay and with each save by Marcão the Sporting CP bench celebrated as if they had themselves just found the back of the net.

As the final whistle sounded, dreams of lifting the UEFA Futsal Cup in the Almaty Arena are now one step closer, with Inter Movistar awaiting in the final.