Mediterranean Futsal Cup reaches the last eight

by Damon Shaw from Tripoli

The group stage is over in the 1st Mediterranean Futsal Cup being held in the capital of Libya, Tripoli and eight teams are still in the hunt for the title of Mediterranean Futsal Champions 2010. There have been some spectacular matches so far and some great moments, both by teams and by individuals and it is turning out to be a high quality international tournament, organised by the Libyan Futsal Teams Department, headed up by Saadi Abdusallam.

All the top seeded teams - Libya, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and Croatia - have qualified along with surprise package Tunisia, ranked 76, who won their group in style, Morocco, France and Lebanon. The rest of the teams are still playing for positions 9-16, so the tournament goes on full steam ahead.

All eyes will now be on the last eight though and there are some interesting pairings. Hosts and favourites, Libya, take on Lebanon and they will be expected to progress to the semi final where they will meet one of Tunisia and France. Libya have an amazing backing by their fans and are only here to win the competition. Alsharif is influential in goal, but they have several players who can change a game in an instant such as Rahoma, Shahout and Bader. Lebanon came past a strong Turkish side and will put up a fight.

With Tunisia punching well above their weight and playing a very effective counter attacking style of futsal, their game against France will be interesting. Tunisia will be quietly confident of getting past the second round if they can take their form with them. France came through a relatively easy group along with Slovenia and will also see Tunisia as beatable, especially with Alexandre Teixeira currently leading the goalscorers chart with 7 goals in 3 games. Whichever team comes through this quarter final will have exceeded expectations.

The tie of the round is arguably Slovenia against their Balkan counterparts, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Slovenia have looked like a quality side in this competition and have one of the talents of the tournament in Kristjan Cujec. He is only 21 and backed up by more experienced players such as Osredkar and captain Benjamin Melink. They will have their eye on the title, but first they must navigate a well organised Bosnian team, who will only know Slovenia too well. Either side could progress, in what promises to be a very good contest. They will go on to face the winner of Croatia and Morocco.

Croatia have improved as the tournament has gone on and have played some of the best team futsal so far. Josip Suton and Matija Capar are both ones to watch, but their team work and movement should be the main weapon. Morocco are an excellent team of individuals, in stark contrast to Croatia, which will make for another mouth-watering clash on Sunday.

With games at 11am, 2pm, 5pm and 8pm, it promises to be a fantastic day of futsal here in the 23rd September Hall in Sport City, Tripoli. All the games will be covered with live updates on the official facebook page: www.facebook.com/medfutsalcup and all other information can be found on the official website of the tournament, www.futsalplanet.com.


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