Titano Futsal Cup: Tre Fiori and Folgore preview the final

Tre Fiori against Folgore for the 2022 Titano Futsal Cup, which is back up for grabs after a two-year absence. Two teams that have previously lifted the trophy will battle it out for the cup. Folgore won it in the 2012-13 season. Years have passed since then and many things have changed. Today the Giallorossoneri are coached by Max Spada, a highly decorated former Tre Fiori player, and can count on Danilo Busignani and Mattia Protti as two key men. They too will experience the final as former Tre Fiori players: in fact, wearing the yellow and blue colours, together with Spada himself, they played a decisive role in Tre Fiori’s last triumph in this competition in the 2016-17 season and, more generally, in a winning spell that lasted more than two years. Afterwards, Tre Penne and Fiorentino added their names to the roll of honour before the two “blank” years of 2020 and 2021 caused by the pandemic. Tre Fiori come into this match having beaten Virtus and Juvenes-Dogana in succession, and are chasing their fourth Futsal Cup, an achievement that would allow the yellow and blues to draw level with San Giovanni as the most successful club in this specific competition. Folgore entered the play-offs directly from the semi-finals, having finished the regular season top of Group A. Busignani and his team-mates came from behind to eliminate Domagnano, sealing the result only in the closing minutes. In a season marked by near-total perfection (the Giallorossoneri have won every game apart from two – one draw and one defeat) it is easy to imagine that the ultimate goal can only be the double. Even if Spada, speaking at the pre-match press conference desk, prefers to use cautious words: "Like every final, it will be a very tactical match. Both teams will want to take the title home and for this reason it will be crucial to get our approach right. I think it will turn into a really good contest. My trophies with Tre Fiori? They were won thanks to the group. You always need a strong collective to achieve results. Today I am at Folgore and I hope this year can be the start of a winning cycle for us." The other coach, Alex Bugli, also expects a tactical encounter, in what is his first experience as a head coach and one in which he has already managed to lead his Tre Fiori all the way to a final: "The quality on the pitch is high on both sides, so I expect a tight, hard-fought match. They have some outstanding individual quality; but in my opinion we are more of a team, more of a collective unit. The roll of honour? I also played a part in some of those San Giovanni victories and I remember a very tough group. Matching that achievement would mean raising the bar for this Tre Fiori side. It would be an incredible honour and joy for me to achieve such a result in my very first season as a coach." The floor then passes to the captains, starting with Folgore’s skipper, Giacomo Mainardi: "A final is always a final. We have had a great season so far, but tomorrow everything starts from zero again. I expect a difficult game against strong opposition. We are missing some important players, but we have come this far and we want to give it everything until the end. There is a real buzz in the squad. We have a good mix of experienced players and youngsters: we have found the right chemistry and we will not lack motivation to do well." Luca Zafferani, who has several caps for the National Team but will be playing his first final for a title, echoes the two coaches as he outlines the type of match that awaits his Tre Fiori and Folgore tomorrow: "I also think it will be a tactical match, decided by key moments. They are very strong in one-v-one situations and we will have to be extremely focused. We have worked hard to get this far. We are focused on our target and we want to bring it home." There is one suspended player on each side overall: for the Giallorossoneri it is Matteo Chezzi, sent off in the semi-final against Domagnano for a second yellow card. As tradition dictates, the match will be played in Fiorentino, with kick-off at 21:00.

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