The focus switches from hoops to goalposts at the Spiroudome in Charleroi on Saturday 23 April, when basketball cracks Spirou temporarily give up their home venue for the eagerly-awaited UEFA Futsal Cup final first leg between Action 21 Charleroi and Dinamo Moscow. Thirty-two clubs from 31 different nations entered the competition last September, but with the field whittled down to the last two, the only certainty is that the trophy will leave Spain for the first time.

Action 21, noisily cheered on by nearly 7,000 home fans, emerged victorious from the decisive qualifying tournament a few weeks ago thanks to a Lucio effort 22 seconds from the end of a pulsating final to earn a 2-2 draw against Spanish favourites and defending champions Boomerang Interviú. Action 21's do-or-die finish saw them pull off their keeper and attack with five outfield players in a frantic closing phase, the draw proving enough for a third final appearance in the last four years after 2002 and 2003. El Pozo Murcia, Spain's last remaining representatives, failed to survive the second qualifying tournament in Moscow a short time later.

The Belgian futsal champions, spurred on by another capacity home crowd, will be chasing a decent result to take with them for the return in Moscow a week later. The Russians are equally well known as a good home side with a boisterous following. Charleroi's dress rehearsal for the European final went awry with a 4-3 defeat in Châtelet, although coach Sergio Benatti rested the majority of his first-choice stars, fielding only Liliu Wilson and François-Xavier Deswijsen of his established names.

"The team which proves the stronger tactically and physically will win," he told UEFA.com. "We dream of winning the UEFA Futsal Cup but we know that the Russians have the same objective. These are the biggest matches of the season and we would like to win the title for our owners and our fans, to thank them for their support." 

The Belgians feature a clutch of talented Brazilians in a technically gifted line-up with the ability to command and control a contest at will. Furthermore, Charleroi have amassed a wealth of experience on the international stage, in stark contrast to their novice Russian opponents. However, Dinamo bristle with pace and mirror the Russian national side in favouring a textbook counter-attacking style.

One of Russia's newest futsal clubs, Dinamo came into existence on 8 May 2002 and are making a second appearance in the UEFA Futsal Cup. They will hope a small band of travelling fans provide some welcome support on Saturday, although the Russians will struggle to make themselves heard against the din generated by the home following. Ninety diehards have pledged to make the demanding trek to cheer on their heroes, travelling in a fleet of buses and cars via Belarus, Poland and Germany. A further 30 fans, most with family ties to the Russian embassy, were waiting to greet the players on arrival.

The Moscow side has refused to leave anything to chance, arranging special training sessions on the Teraflex surface installed at the venue. "Teraflex is slower and makes different demands on the muscles. Players react differently to it. It looks better, although a parquet surface is faster. Teraflex is better suited to the demands of television, and it's the surface of the future," explains coach Juriy Rudnev.

Brazilian Juan, the star in Moscow and currently second in the Uefa Futsal Cup scoring charts on 10 goals, is in no doubt as to the severity of the upcoming task: "Charleroi feature a blend of Brazilian and European styles. They're an exceptional unit. It's not as if they've only come together for this season. They've already finished runners-up twice, so they're doubly determined to win the trophy, but it's in our own hands. We have to be looking for a draw in Belgium, and then our fans will carry us to victory in Russia," Juan told the official club website.

Saturday's final will be refereed by Massimo Cumbo of Italy and Hungary's Károly Török, who took charge of the Uefa European Futsal Championship final between Spain and Russia in Ostrava last February. Zbigniew Kosmala of Poland is the third official.