Barbosa looks to future after memorable win

Kairat Almaty clinched third place in the UEFA Futsal Cup courtesy of a hard-fought 1-0 win over MFK Dinamo Moskva, but despite the euphoria of a surprise result for many, victorious coach João Carlos Barbosa warned his team that they still have a lot of work to complete if they hope to one day reach the final. In the opposition camp, Dinamo trainer Yuri Rudnev admitted that his team's semi-final loss to MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg had deflated them for today's encounter.

João Carlos Barbosa, Kairat coach
First of all, we need to get back down to earth. Kairat are an average team just trying to find their level. Kairat have the right conditions to progress further. From season to season we are trying to improve our technical abilities and infrastructure to reach our ultimate goal, which is to win the UEFA Futsal Cup. This is our fourth season in the UEFA Cup. When I signed my contract [last summer], I said it would take three or four years to reach that goal. That's why I am sure that if we keep our feet on the ground and know what we are capable of, we will reach it.

The hero of the match was our [club] president, who guides the team and believes in it. As for me, I've always thought of a team as a single entity, ever since the very first day of my coaching career. And if you saw the match, what you saw was a collective display. I believe that when you work to reach a certain goal and then reach it, it can't be unexpected. When we lost 5-0 against Interviú [in the semi-finals], it was a catastrophe. Our team were wounded heavily deep down. But we worked on that.

Yuri Rudnev, Dinamo coach
This team set itself the goal of coming first. That is why today we obviously lacked motivation. We tried to give the players that in the first half and during the break. Of course, you can understand them. But, on the other hand, Dinamo have a name and we had to perform at a different level. Given our results in recent years, given the fans and the level of the competition, we had to play decently despite all our troubles.

Judging by the second half, we managed to get to the players' heads and it was a completely different matter after the break, both in terms of chances and performance. But Kairat played very well with regards to the scoreline, packed their defence and with the help of their top-class goalkeeper managed to hold us out. But I cannot blame my players for the second half. We were maybe unlucky or lacked skill, but all credit to their goalkeeper. [Pavel] Stepanov had a great match and I do not blame that goal on him; that was just a stupid deflection. Of course we will play until the very end of the league season and will try to win every match.