Courtesy: The Independent On Line


Excess RP Bidnija taking part in UEFA Cup preliminary round

Excess RP Bidnija will be participating in the preliminary round, Group F, of this year’s edition of the UEFA Futsal Cup, in Skopje, Macedonia between 18 and 21 August.

After winning the MFA First Division Futsal League, for the second consecutive year with a practically unbeaten record, Excess have improved the squad by merging forces with RP Bidnija. Incidentally, the latter was the only team which managed to inflict the one and only defeat to the Futsal Champions during the league.

A number of new players have also been signed thus joining core players like Carlos Scicluna, Clint Cope, Brian Baldacchino and MFA Futsal Player of the Year – Florin Anton. The latter has also been reconfirmed as Club Coach.

Following last year’s performances in the UEFA Futsal Cup, Preliminary Round, Group B, organised in Malta at the Cottonera Sports Complex, Excess managed to climb up six places in the UEFA Club Rankings, earning themselves a place in Position 3 as opposed to Position 4 occupied by Maltese clubs previously.

During last year’s tournament, organised for the first time in Malta, Excess had managed to win the first ever international competitive match by a local Futsal Club and also drew against Tournament winners FS Ilves Tampere from Finland. In this year’s edition, Excess RP Bidnija will be facing CF Einhoven (Holland), KMF Zelazarek Skopje (Macedonia) and Istanbul Universitesi SK (Turkey).

Excess RP Bidnija squad this year consists of the following players:

Brian Baldacchino, Adrian Lia, Jake Attard, Alan Ellul, Jonathan Sammut, Florin Anton, Clint Cope, Carlos Scicluna, Christian Micallef, Vojko Martinovic, Tarek Ibrahim, Darren Aitchison, Alex Ribic, Mark Camilleri, Miguel Francica.

The UEFA Futsal Cup comprises three group stages and a four-team final tournament.


Preliminary round
Depending on the number of entrants, the lower-ranked nations are drawn into three or four-team mini-tournaments played at the start of the season. Each mini-tournament is staged by one of the clubs and each team plays each other once with the group winners progressing.

Main round
The preliminary round winners join all but the four highest-ranked entrants excused the previous stage. They are drawn into six groups of four, staged as one-venue mini-tournaments, with the top two teams going through.

Elite round
The 12 teams progressing from the main round join the four top seeds and are drawn into four groups of four teams. The winners of the one-venue mini-tournaments in late autumn progress to the finals.

Finals
The four-team finals are held over a weekend in late April and hosted by one of the qualifiers. The tournament is played as a knockout with the semi-finals followed two days later by the final and third-place play-off. If the third-place match is level after 40 minutes it goes straight to penalties, in the other games ten minutes of extra time will be played.


Preliminary round draw

Group A: FS Ilves Tampere (FIN), KMF Bajo Pivljanin (MNE), SD Croatia Berlin (GER), Perth Saltires (SCO)*

Group B: FK Nautara Kaunas (LTU), EID Futsal (IRL), Geneva Futsal (SUI)*, The New Saints FC (WAL)

Group C: SC Tornado Chisinau (MDA), KMF Leotar Trebinje (BIH)*, Falcão FC Stockholm (SWE), FC Encamp (AND)

Group D: MFC Varna (BUL)*, BGA Futsal (DEN), Vegakameratene (NOR), Fjölnir (ISL)

Group E: ETO FC Györ (HUN), Helvecia Futsal London (ENG), Stella Rossa Vienna (AUT)*, FC Anzhi Tallinn (EST)

Group F: CF Eindhoven (NED), KMF Zelezarec Skopje (MKD)*, Excess RP Bidnija (MLT), Istanbul Üniversitesi SK (TUR)

Group G: AC Omonia Nicosia (CYP)*, Eerebuni Yerevan (ARM), Sporting Clube de Paris (FRA), KF Flamurtari Vlora (ALB)


Main round draw

Group 1: MFK Dinamo Moskva (RUS), Athina ‘90 (GRE), FC Litija (SVN)*, Winner preliminary round Group F

Group 2: FC Barcelona (ESP), FK Nikars Riga (LVA)*, Winner preliminary round Group E, Winner preliminary round Group C

Group 3: Iberia Star Tbilisi (GEO)*, Slov-Matic Bratislava (SVK), FC Mapid Minsk (BLR), Winner preliminary round Group B

Group 4: FK Era-Pack Chrudim (CZE), Akademia FC Pniewy (POL)*, Châtelineau Futsal (BEL), Winner preliminary round Group D

Group 5: Marca Futsal (ITA), City’US Târgu Mures (ROU)*, MNK Split (CRO), Winner preliminary round Group A

Group 6: KMF Ekonomac Kragujevac (SRB)*, Uragan Ivano-Frankovsk (UKR), Asa Ben Gurion (ISR), Winner preliminary round Group G

*Mini-tournament hosts


Bye to elite round

ASD Città di Montesilvano C/5 (ITA, holders). Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR), Kairat Almaty (KAZ), Araz Naxçivan (AZE)




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