Courtesy:
UEFA.comEkonomac, Murcia and Benfica winThursday 25 November 2010SL Benfica began their UEFA Futsal Cup defence with victory but KMF Ekonomac Kragujevac stole the Group A headlines while ElPozo Murcia FS took an early advantage in Group D.
by
Ivan Vjetrovic &
Carlos Machado from Belgrade & Lisbon
Holders SL Benfica began their UEFA Futsal Cup defence with a narrow victory but the headlines in the two elite round groups beginning on Thursday were stolen by KMF Ekonomac Kragujevac, FK EP Chrudim and ElPozo Murcia FS.
Prior to these mini-tournaments beginning, Kairat Almaty and ASD Cittŕ di Montesilvano C/5 had booked their places in the late April finals. Benfica won their Group A opener 1-0 against MNK Nacional Zagreb but Serbian hosts Ekonomac starred with a 7-1 defeat of FC Time Lviv, while in Group D hosts Sporting Clube de Portugal were dramatically denied in a 4-4 draw with FK EP Chrudim while Murcia saw off City'us Târgu Mureş 6-0.
Ekonomac were first to kick off in Group A and stormed past a Lviv side that had the best overall record in the main round. After a nervy start, captain Vidan Bojović was the inspiration, and after his sixth-minute goal Ekonomac never looked back. They were four up by half-time and although Time never game up, the Ukrainian side had no response.
Home coach Ivan Boović said: "The margin of victory is perhaps too big, but we were definitely the better side. We started badly, but eventually it all came into place. We put on the pressure we wanted, which Time failed to handle properly, so we opened with two easy goals. After the convincing first half, the rest was easy."
Opposite number Stanislav Gonarchenko added: "It's hard to say something after such a defeat; we simply lost in every area. We played equally badly in defence and attack. We fell psychologically, while Ekonomac demonstrated a strong and fast-paced game, which could take them to the finals."
On Friday, Lviv must play a Benfica side for who a first-half Joel Queirós goal and calm defensive performance was enough for victory, though Nacional proved spirited opponents. Nacional will look to revive their campaign against Ekonomac.
Sporting are hoping to emulate Benfica in taking the trophy to Portugal but a Luká Reetár goal with ten seconds left gave Czech champions Chrudim a 4-4 draw. The hosts in Lisbon had been 2-0 but Chrudim, inspired by Dentinho and Max, were level by the break and ahead just after. With Déos entrance crucial, Divanei and Leităo put Sporting back into the lead with five minutes to go. But Reetár had the final word after Divanei's slip.
Orlando Duarte, the Sporting coach, said: "It was our own individual mistakes that made us pay dear. We conceded three goals, basically, in a stupid way. Ten seconds before the end we didn't deserve to concede an equaliser."
Murcia, runners-up in 2008, were only one up at the break against Romania's Târgu Mureş but after Vinicius struck on 21 minutes they swiftly moved towards a comfortable win. Coach Duda said: "We were patient and after stealing a ball we scored and it all got easier. At the beginning it took some time to adapt to the pitch because we are not used to it." His side could qualify a game early on Friday if they defeat Chrudim and Sporting do not defeat Târgu Mureş.
Courtesy:
UEFA.comMontesilvano top Ekaterinburg and ArazThursday 25 November 2010ASD Cittŕ di Montesilvano C/5 have reached the finals on their debut after a 10-0 defeat of AGBU Ararat Nicosia FC ensured they topped MFK Sinara Ekaterinburg and Araz Naxçivan in Group B.
by
Igor Sturov &
Francesco Corda from Ekaterinburg
Italian champions ASD Cittŕ di Montesilvano C/5 have reached the UEFA Futsal Cup finals on their competition debut following a 10-0 defeat of AGBU Ararat Nicosia FC in Russia on Thursday.
Going into the last day of elite round Group B action, Montesilvano trailed Araz Naxçivan on goal difference with hosts MFK Sinara Ekaterinburg a point behind. First to kick off, Montesilvano secured the win they needed against the Cypriot entrants and then were able to celebrate when 2010 bronze-medallists Araz lost 3-2 to 2008 winners Ekaterinburg.
Cleyton Baptistella was the star for Montesilvano with five goals and Rogerio Da Silva contributed a hat-trick in a game where the victors were without Marcio Forte and Christian Borruto. That result ended Sinara's hopes and left Araz needing an unlikely ten-goal win; Aleksei Mokhov won the game for Ekaterinburg with his second strike of the game with two minutes left not long after Rizvan Farzaliyev had swiftly cancelled out his previous effort.
Baptistella, who was in the Luparense C/5 team that reached the finals last season, losing to Araz for third place, said: "It was a great personal satisfaction for me to score five goals, but it was indeed qualification that counted. It's the second straight finals for me after last year with Luparense, I hope to go further with Montesilvano than we did in the last tournament. This team very much deserves to achieve these ambitious targets."
Coach Fulvio Colini added: "I feel a very great satisfaction about reaching the finals in my first UEFA Futsal Cup. This is a victory I dedicate to Junior, Burato, Patias [who all helped the title win last season but have left], [third-choice goalkeeper] Scordella and [injured] Calderolli because they contributed to us being able to celebrate here today."
For Ekaterinburg, it is their second straight elite-round exit having won on their 2007/08 debut and reached the final the following season. Coach Sergey Skorovich, whose team were beaten by Montesilvano on Monday, said: "First of all, it is psychologically difficult to play such games when the train has already left. But we played for the honour of the club.
"It's a shame to realise that we were unable to cope with this task, but we must reach certain conclusions and move on. In these matches the cost of failure is high. In the first match we created six chances and scored once, and our opponents took two of their three. Now to play in Europe we need to become [Russian] champions again. Many thanks to all the fans who do not leave the club in difficult times."
Courtesy:
UEFA.comElite round awaits super SundayFriday 26 November 2010KMF Ekonomac Kragujevac and holders SL Benfica both won in Group A and ElPozo Murcia FS and Sporting Clube de Portugal secured Group D victories to set up two Sunday deciders.
by
Ivan Vjetrovic &
Carlos Machado from Kragujevac & Lisbon
Victories on Friday for KMF Ekonomac Kragujevac, holders SL Benfica, ElPozo Murcia FS and Sporting Clube de Portugal ensured those four will play for the two remaining finals places in Sunday's elite round deciders.
Benfica dramatically won 2-1 against FC Time Lviv but remain second on goal difference in Group A behind Serbian hosts Ekonomac, 4-1 victors against MNK Nacional Zagreb. In Group D Murcia have six points after beating FK EP Chrudim 3-1 but hosts Sporting Clube de Portugal can still pip the Spanish side following their 4-1 win against City'us Târgu Mureş.
Ekonomac, who defeated Time 7-1 on Thursday to begin their campaign in style, kept up their form against a Nacional side only beaten 1-0 by Benfica. Cheered on by a packed 3,700 crowd, Ekonomac had already hit the woodwork more than once before Predrag Rajić and Slobodan Rajčević made it 2-0 in the first half although Goran Ugarković revived spirited Nacional's hopes, those were dashed late on by Mladen Kocić and Ivan Marinković.
Vidan Bojović, the Ekonomac captain, said: "It was a great game, competitive for the whole 40 minutes, primarily because we missed many chances. We conceded a goal, after which we had some good fortune, which favours the brave, because afterwards we scored two goals which were totally deserved."
Nacional coach Marinko Mavrović added: "This was an interesting match in a pakced hall, we would have had this atmosphere in Zagreb too, but to our advantage. The aim was to give our best and I can not be dissatisfied with what my players showed."
Time's disciplined performance against Benfica seemed to be rewarded when Serhiy Yakunin's penalty gave them a 32nd-minute lead. But within a minute Joel Queirós had levelled from the spot and although both he and Diece were then unsuccessful with double penalties, Pedro Costa struck with three seconds to on the clock in an end-to-end move to settle a tense game. However Benfica must beat Ekonomac to make it to the finals on Sunday.
Over in Lisbon, Murcia, having beaten City'us Târgu Mureş 6-0 yesterday, secured a 3-1 win against FK EP Chrudim, who had previously held Sporting 4-4 with a last-gasp equaliser. Vinicius struck early for the Spanish side, runners-up in 2008, and not long after the break Dentinho put through an own goal. Mauricio made it three before Michal Mare's late consolation for the now eliminated Czech team.
Murcia coach Duda said: "It was a hard game for us against a skilful team. In the second half we conceded too many fouls and against the flying keeper we had more trouble but we showed that we were strong and now have the advantage for the last match against Sporting."
Sporting now needed to win to keep their campaign alive. First-half goals from Joaő Matos, Alex and Marcelo Silva putthem in control at the break against Romania's City'us Târgu Mureş, who pulled one back after using a flying goalkeeper but at the end Cardinal chipped into an empty net. Orlando Duarte's team must beat Murcia on Sunday to pip them to first place.
Duarte said: "No one can doubt that we were superior. Sporting showed a different image, a better one. We were good in attack in the first half and in defence in the second." Kairat Almaty and ASD Cittŕ di Montesilvano C/5 are already through to the finals in late April.
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Luca Ranocchiari -->
luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com
