Nuno Dias full of praise for his players after securing a place in the UEFA Futsal Cup Elite Round

Another UEFA Cup Main Round encounter and another heavy defeat inflicted by Sporting, this time against Halle-Gooik.

"It was a great game, both in defence and when we had the ball. We showed rhythm and we created chances against a really good side", said Nuno Dias at the final whistle, continuing with an analysis of the encounter: "They really pushed us. Defending for almost 40 minutes against 5 is really tough. Not having possession means you have to focus a lot and any mistake can let your opponent in for a goal. The lads were great tonight."

As for where he setting his sights, Nuno Dias didn't pull his punches: "Getting into the Elite Round isn't enough for us. We came here to play three matches and preferably to win all three. We want another good result and a good performance."

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."