Courtesy: UEFA.com


Châtelineau seal elite round spot

Châtelineau Futsal are through to the UEFA Futsal Cup elite round with a game to spare after beginning main round Group 4 with wins against Akademia FC Pniewy and FK EP Chrudim.

Sunday 25 September 2011

Châtelineau Futsal have sealed their place in the UEFA Futsal Cup elite round with a game to spare after opening their main round Group 4 campaign with wins against hosts Akademia FC Pniewy and FK EP Chrudim.

Belgian champions Châtelineau twice fell behind in their first assignment against Akademia Pniewy in Poznan on Saturday, with André cancelling out Lukasz Pieczynski goals on both occasions before Sebastiano Canaris had the final say just after 35 minutes. The hosts carved out a number of chances to earn a draw but could not prevent a 3-2 defeat.

Also on Saturday, Czech title holders Chrudim boosted their bid to reach the elite round for the fifth consecutive time by seeing off Norwegian debutants Vegakameratene 6-2. The first club from Norway to advance beyond the preliminary round, Vegakameratene managed to draw level after falling two goals behind, but they had no response in the second period as Chrudim notched up four goals in the space of five minutes – with six different scorers accounting for their final tally.

That made for an intriguing pair of matches on Sunday, and it was Châtelineau who emerged triumphant from the tussle of the opening-day victors. Chrudim managed to level the scores twice, via Roman Mareš and Cacau, but Zico and André then sealed a 4-2 triumph for the Belgian hopefuls.

In the day's other game, hosts Akademia Pniewy squandered a two-goal advantage to Vegakameratene but grabbed the winner seven seconds from time, captain Bartosz Łeszyk burying the rebound for his second strike of the game after Frane Despotović had hit the bar. The section concludes on Tuesday, when Chrudim and Akademia Pniewy meet to decide who will join Châtelineau in the elite round, while the group winners sign off against Vegakameratene.

The top two teams from each pool progress to the elite round draw on 11 October alongside automatic entrants ASD Città di Montesilvano C/5, Sporting Clube de Portugal, Kairat Almaty and Araz Naxçivan. Three of the five remaining main round mini-tournaments begin on Tuesday.




Courtesy: UEFA.com


Stalwarts Iberia ambitious for more

Iberia Star Tbilisi are the only side to have played every edition of the UEFA Futsal Cup and believe they can attract a competition-record crowd as they host their first mini-tournament.

by Vakhtang Bzikadze from Tbilisi

Monday 26 September 2011

Iberia Star Tbilisi are the only side to have played in every edition of the UEFA Futsal Cup but it will be a new experience for the perennial Georgian champions when they stage a mini-tournament for the first time on Tuesday.

FC Mapid Minsk, FC Geneva and Slov-Matic Bratislav are the visitors to the Sportis Sasakhle in Tbilisi for main round Group 3 and Iberia president Vakhtang Tsereteli believes the biggest-ever UEFA Futsal Cup crowd, set by the 9,400 that attended the 2010 final in Madrid between SL Benfica and Interviú Madrid, could be bettered. "First of all I expect the Tbilisi fans who love and respect futsal to fill the stands of our 9,700-seater so we could have a competition-record crowd," said former player Tsereteli.

His team's record in Europe has been one of slow improvement, finally making the elite round in 2009/10 and last season getting there again before being pipped to the finals by Kairat Almaty. Since then Kairat have signed key Iberia man Fumasa but Brazilians Luiz Negão and Edu have arrived in his place.

Tsereteli remains confident they can make it to the finals and Ukrainian coach Oleg Solodovnyk, in charge of the side since early 2010, thinks the same. "We are experienced enough to fight for first place in the group, not only in the main round but also in the elite one," he said.

At a friendly tournament in Lviv, Ukraine, in August, Iberia defeated BTS Rekord Bielsko-Biała 6-2 and hosts Kardinal Lviv 6-3 before drawing 6-6 against MFK Gazprom-Yugra. It was also 6-6 in the final against MFK CSKA Moskva before the Russian club won 8-7 on penalties. "Yugra are a good team but Iberia were the best side around, they were very difficult to play against," said CSKA coach Paulo Tavares. Iberia did further damage playing at home in September, beating Ekol Baku 9-1 and 5-2 in friendlies, meaning they have not lost a game at the Sportis Sasakhle since November 2009.




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