Divanei makes the most of the opportunity to catch up with his former teammates

Divanei, 32, has been with Kairat for three seasons now, after spending two separate spells with Sporting CP totaling five seasons in Alvalade. Although Kairat side have the home advantage, the veteran winger isn't dismissing Sporting CP's chances of silverware: "I have watched the games and the club is at a really top level right now. This is the UEFA Futsal Cup and we all remember 2011, when we were favourites against Montesilvano and ended up losing. Sporting CP will face Ugra and the players will have to concentrate from start to finish. The little details make the difference."

Divanei looked overjoyed with the chance to mix with his former teammates and he didn't hide that in his comments to the press: "I really miss going out to play and hearing people chanting for me. Not even the top Brazilian players had the support I did, which is recognition of what I did with Sporting CP."

Medical information ahead of the UEFA Futsal Cup Final Four

Nuno Dias ups the tempo on second day

The second day of training in Almaty and Nuno Dias is turning the screw, after giving his players the opportunity to recover from the long trip from Lisbon.

In general the session focused on technique, while the goalkeepers were also put through their faces in front of some stinging shots.

Tomorrow will be Sporting CP's first run out onto the court at the Almaty Arena.

Sporting CP futsal work off the long flight from the Portuguese capital

After breakfast and a short walk, Sporting CP held their first training session in Almaty this week, at the AFC Kairat Academy.

Nuno Dias used the session to give his players the chance to stetch off after the seven thousand kilometer trip from Lisbon.

Alvalade squad arrives ahead of the UEFA Futsal Cup Final Four

Seven thousand kilometers from from Lisbon and 13 hours after leaving the Portuguese capital, Sporting CP's futsal team have landed in Almaty for this week's UEFA Futsal Cup Final Four.

After a transfer in Istanbul, Nuno Dias' side arrived at 05h30 local time and the players were all in high spirits, despite the draining trip.

After breakfast the squad rested up, before their first training session at 18h00 at the AFC Kairat Academy.

João Matos speaks with the press before taking off for Kazakhstan

João Matos was the player spoken to speak with journalists who had gathered ahead of Sporting CP's trip to Kazakhstan for the UEFA Cup Final Four.

As usual, the Alvalade veteran's expectations are high: "It is a privilege to take part in a competition at this level. It is an hour for Sporting CP and for Portuguese futsal to be in the Final Four again. Nerves will kick in a bit later of course, but that is normal. We have a week to work on the detail now and we are all looking forward to it."

Sporting CP will face Gazprom-Ugra Yugorsk in the semi-finals on Friday and although the Russians are the current UEFA Futsal Cup holders, Matos still sees his side as in with a chance: "This is Sporting CP's best team and we have a lot of quality in every position. We have our strengths, but we can't let emotion get the better of us. We have to keep our cool and that is what we are working on. I think we can get a good result against Ugra."

Alvalade veteran scores Portugal's 4th against Romania

João Matos netted Portugal's 4th goal against Romania this week, securing passage for the Futsal European Championships. Bruno Coelho also scored two, while Márcio also got his name on the scoresheet.

Jorge Braz's side actually only needed a draw, after winning their first two matches against Latvia (2-1) and Finland (5-1). Also on international duty where Sporting CP's André Sousa, Pedro Cary and Anilton.

Euro 2018 will be played from the 30th of January to the 10th of February 2018, in Slovenia.

João Matos, Anilton and André Sousa feature for Portugal

Jorge Braz announced his national futsal sqaud list for the coming Euro 2018 qualifiers against Latvia, Finland and Romania.

Portuguese futsal starlets set four double header against Russia

The Portuguese national under-17 futsal coach, Pedro Palas, announced his sqaud list for two coming encounters against Russia next week (28th and 29th of March), in Angra do Heroísmo.

Sporting CP dominated the list, with six out of 14 hailing from Alvalade:

Confira a convocatória:
ABC de Nelas: Rui Moreira;
ADCN Tenões: Ricardo Lopes;
ADCR Caxinas Poça Barca: Gustavo Rodrigues;
Associação de Moradores da Granja: Miguel Ribeiro and Tiago Silva;
Centro Social São João/Urgicentro: Daniel Costa;
G.D.C. Cohaemato: João Fonseca;
SL Benfica: Iuri Barros;
Sporting CP: Bernardo Paçó, Célio Coque, Hugo Silva, Ricardo Pinto, Tomás Paçó and Tomás Reis.

Italian international agrees terms after unstoppable form in front of goal

The Sporting CP futsal player Diego Cavinato agreed a new contract this week, in a meeting led by president Bruno de Carvalho and board member Rui Caeiro.

Speaking about the deal, the Italian proved overjoyed: "I feel great. This is a show of confidence in me. Our objectives are the same as they always are at one of the best clubs in the world. All we think about is winning titles. Goals come from hard work and hopefully I can keep it up. This month we have the League Cup and then the UEFA Futsal Cup in April and we are all focused."