Courtesy www.uefa.com

Eight nations await Futsal draw
Friday 6 December 2002

The draw for the 2003 UEFA European Futsal Championship will be made next Tuesday.

Strong field
Eight teams have qualified for the final tournament, which will take place in Caserta and Aversa, Italy from 17-24 February. The teams involved include 2001 champions Spain, 1999 winners Russia and hosts Italy. They will be joined in the draw by Slovenia, Portugal, Czech Republic, Ukraine and Belgium.

Two sides seeded
At the draw, taking place at the Palazzo Reale in Naples at 1300CET, the teams will be divided into two groups of four with Spain and Italy seeded. Each team will play the three other sides in their group once, with the teams finishing the group stage in first and second place qualifying for the semi-finals.

Fine displays
Twenty-eight sides entered the qualifying round, which was played out through seven groups of four teams. Each of the seven teams to triumph qualified in fine style, winning all three of their games.

Russian triumph
Russia won the inaugural UEFA event in 1999, defeating host nation Spain on penalties. The next edition in 2001 saw Spain make amends with a 2-1 final victory against Ukraine to lift the trophy in Moscow.