Courtesy: UEFA.com


Qualifiers join futsal giants

Monday 24 August 2009

by Paul Saffer

The UEFA Futsal Cup Main round lineup has been decided, with seven Preliminary round winners having won through over the last week to take on the likes of 2005 winners Action 21 Charleroi and past finalists SL Benfica.

Charleroi test
Charleroi, staging Group 3 in late September and early October, already knew they were playing fellow Main round entrants Skövde AIK of Sweden and Greek stalwarts Athina '90; their other opponents will be Finnish champions Golden Futsal Team, who won all three of their Preliminary round Group D fixtures in Espoo. Meanwhile, Montenegro Stars Budva will play Benfica as well as Viten Orsha from Belarus and Slovenian hosts KMN Puntar in Group 4. SC Tornado Chiºinãu, FK Nikars Riga, Nautara Kaunas, AC Omonia and Erebuni Yerevan also made it through.

Finals chance
As in previous years, the winners and runners-up from the Main round groups – which have already been drawn – will advance to the Elite round draw on 13 October. There, they will join the four seeds given a bye to that stage: holders Interviú Madrid, 2008 winners MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg, that season's runners-up ElPozo Murcia FS and AFC Kairat Almaty, semi-finalists for three of the last four years. Four Elite round mini-tournaments will be played from 14 to 22 November, with the group winners competing in the finals, hosted by one of the qualifying quartet in late April.






Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com