Kurochkina ready to stand up to Duisburg

Striker Olesya Kurochkina is concerned their pre-match billing as outsiders could prey on Zvezda-2005's minds as they meet FCR 2001 Duisburg in Saturday's UEFA Women's Cup final first leg.

'Extraordinary players'
The 25-year-old Russian international, who scored four times in a 10-1 win against WFC Lada Tolyatti in the opening fixture of Zvezda's domestic season on 7 May, is not so sure that the German side have the upper hand in their tie, and is certain that her team-mates should not believe that to be the case. "I don't agree that Duisburg are the favourites," she told uefa.com. "We shouldn't overestimate our opponents or underestimate ourselves as we have several extraordinary players like Nataliya Zinchenko, Valentina Savchenkova and Nadezhda Baranova."

Zvezda hunger
While coach Aleksandr Grigoryan is concerned that his side have played only three competitive games this season, including the two-legged semi-final defeat of Umeå IK, Kurochkina can see an up side to their situation. "We are very hungry and that may help us but I am sure that we will not be overexcited," she said. "We are in good shape and completely ready for this fixture." She also insisted that the coach's announcement that he would leave the club after the second leg of the final next Friday had not unsettled her team-mates. "It has not upset us," she said. "At the moment we are thinking only about the final and his decision should not concern us."

Steady nerves
Duisburg's most dangerous goalscorer Inka Grings promised that her side would "take the first game cautiously" as she looked ahead to the first leg, but Kurochkina did not expect her side to hold back. "We will play our own game which is not a defensive one," she said. "I don't know who will dominate but we will try to. We are a bit excited but that's only natural ahead of such an important game." A few fans on the terraces in Zvezda's European base of Kazan would do a lot to settle any last-minute nerves. "We need as many of them as possible," said Kurochkina. "At home matches in Perm we have 4-5,000 supporters and that really helps us. I hope we get even more on Saturday but I don't know how it will be in Kazan."