Miguel Albuquerque reflects on Sunday's final in Almaty

As leader of Sporting CP's futsal department, Miguel Albuquerque was inevitably asked to comment on this season's UEFA Futsal Cup campaign, brought to an end in Almaty this weekend.

"There isn't a lot to say when you lose a final by such a heavy result. What I said to the lads that we might not be the best in the world, but we certainly aren't the worst. Obviously the result isn't what we wanted and it is humiliating, because the difference between Sporting CP and Inter really isn't that big. It was harsh for us, particularly after how we played to get here. We lost in Almaty in 2017 the same way we did in 2011, but our team is made up of men of character and our time will come", said the Alvalade director.

Miguel Albuquerque went on to reflect on his side's run to the final: "We started back in the Main Round in Italy and we were brilliant. Then we knocked out the Russian champion and beat the European champion in the semi-finals, but we came up just short in the final. As the leader of the project I take full responsibility. Winning is easy, losing is hard and reacting properly is even harder."

Sporting's futsal department on the coming UEFA Futsal Cup Elite Round

The Odivelas Multiuse Arena will once again host the UEFA Futsal Cup Elite Round later this month, but despite what is now quite a tradition of Sporting CP organising the event, director Miguel Albuquerque was still caught by surprise: "the Final Four that we organised in the Meo Arena was considered as the best event ever by UEFA and that only makes us even more determined to carry on doing this kind of thing. I would like to see us put a bid in every time and UEFA trusts us because we are serious. Of course we want to win the competition, but we also want to put on a show."

Coach Nuno Dias also reflected this week on the coming challenge, highlighting the role of the fans: "The fans are really important and they know it. They know how important their support is for us and we hope to see that translate into success. We will be ready and the fans will get behind us."

Coach João Matos also took a moment to speak with the press about the competition, analysing Sporting CP0s opposition: "We really want to get into the Final Four and win it, but we hae to take it one step at a time. We will have some hard games in Odivelas against some good teams, but we are a strong side as well."

Miguel Albuquerque analyses Friday's UEFA Futsal Cup Elite Round draw

"From the four seeded teams, I would have picked Ugra Yugorsk", said Miguel Albuquerque after the UEFA Futsal Cup Elite Round draw this Friday, which puts Sporting CP in Group D along with FC Dynamo, ETO Gyõri and Târgu Mures.

Reflecting further on the draw, the Alvalade futsal director added: “FC Dynamo and Sporting CP are both clubs that want to win a trophy. In theory the other teams are a bit easier, but we will have to be at our best. FC Dynamo and Sporting CP will battle for the place in the Final Four, as long as we don't slip up in the other games."

Miguel Albuquerque reveals Sporting's bid to host the UEFA Futsal Cup Elite Round

With Sporting CP's place in the UEFA Futsal Cup Elite Round secured, department director Miguel Albuquerque is already looking to make a bid to host the competition in the Portuguese capital.

"The bid is decided. It is already done and will be sent to UEFA. We have until the 18th to do it formally. We had already done it informally in case we qualified and now we have. We will send the documentation to host the Elite Round once again", affirmed Albuquerque in an interview with Sporting TV.

The Alvalade futsal chief went on to explain the reasoning behind the bid and what to expect in terms of opposition: "Four seeded teams come into the competition in the next round and we will be in a group with one of them. If we don't host the competition, then we will have to travel and lose the home advantage. This bid is really important in terms of sports, because we have only failed to get into the Final Four once when playing at home. Our first objective is guaranteed now, which was to get into the Elite Round. Now we will have another match to play on Saturday to finish in first place, which will be important in the draw for the next round."

Alvalade stars to take part in UEFA Futsal Cup Main Round

Caio Japa and Miguel Albuquerque, head of Sporting's futsal department, broke off from the pack heading to Italy for a few moments today, to affirm Sporting's intentions of claiming European silverware.

Futsal director Miguel Albuquerque on a tough UEFA Main Round draw

Sporting CP will again take part in the UEFA Futsal Cup this year, this time playing in the Main Round from the 11th to the 16th of October. The competition draw has put Sporting in Group 5, along with Belgium's Halle-Gooik, Italy's Real Rieti and the winner of Qualification Group D (Centar Saravejo, Istambul Universitesi SK, Lynx FC, or FC Baltija).

The two top teams will move into the Elite Round, along with the automatically qualified Inter FS, Ugra, Kairat Almaty and Dinamo.  

Miguel Albuquerque, head of Sporting's futsal department has already responded to what has been dubbed the 'group of death': "It wasn't a nice draw for us and it is a hard group. We will face the Italian runner-up, who are one of the best teams in the country, the Belgian champion, who reached the Elite Round last year, and the winner of Group D, who will be a good team too. However, we want to reach the Final Four and to of course win it."