Courtesy www.uefa.com

Group 1

Castellón cruise into next stage

Friday, 10 October 2003

Playas de Castellón F.S. showed they will once again be the team to beat after storming through their first qualifying round mini-tournament.

No fuss
The two-time, and reigning, UEFA Futsal Cup champions came through Group 1 with a 100 per cent record. The Spanish side have made a terrific start to their domestic season and Csö-Montage Budapest FC of Hungary, Beer Sheva of Israel and AGBU-Ararat Nicosia FC of Cyprus were ultimately no match.

Fali treble
In the first encounter Budapest, who reached the last eight in 2001/02 but were unfortunate to be paired with Castellón in last year's first stage, took on Beer Sheva. A goal in each half from Istvan Javor and Zoltan Csak gave the Hungarian team a 2-0 victory. Castellón were next in action and were 11-0 winners aginst AGBU. The rout included a hat-trick for Fali, also known as Rafael Becerra Romero.

Grana goal
AGBU were then beaten 9-0 by mini-tournament hosts Budapest. The stars of the show were Miklós and Szabolcs Tóth, the former hitting a hat-trick and the latter a double. Castellón then became the second team to make it two wins from two by defeating Beer Sheva 7-3 although the Israeli team put up a brave fight in the first half. The match saw Nando Grana, the Italian international, get on the scoresheet with his side's final goal of the night.

First points
Before the decisive finale between Castellón and Budapest, Beer Sheva picked up their first points by defeating AGBU 5-2. Their main inspiration was Amir Moyal, scorer of a hat-trick.

Pole position
Castellón then made sure of their place in the next round by defeating Budapest 6-1. Grana put the Spanish side on their way although János Madarász equalised almost immediately. However, the holders were not to be denied with Grana again among the goalscorers.

Group 3

Dynamic display from Interviú

Friday, 10 October 2003

Boomerang Interviú F.S. issued a statement of intent with three wins out of three to move through to the second qualifying round.

Too strong
The Spanish champions, denied a place in last year's final after fielding an ineligible player in an earlier round, are one of the favourites for the competition. They were certainly too much for FK Inkaras of Lithuania, FC Iberia 2000 of Georgia and KMF VIP Sofia of Bulgaria in the Group 3 mini-tournament.

Sarkisian shock
First up for Interviú was Iberia, although things did not start as planned as Aleksandr Sarkisian scored a first-minute penalty for the Georgian side. However, normal service was soon resumed and Interviú ran away with an 11-3 victory that featured a hat-trick from Spain star Daniel. To make matters worse for Iberia, Revaz Devdariani was shown a late red card for a second booking.

Home cheer
Next up was the first outing for the mini-tournament hosts Inkaras and they gave the home support something to cheer with an 8-2 defeat of VIP. Star of the show was Arturas Rimkevicius who scored four times for the Lithuanian contenders.

Five-star Andreu
VIP were not having the best of times as they were soundly beaten 22-0 in their next match against Interviú. Andreu was the top scorer, with the 28-year-old hitting the back of the net on five occasions in an eight minute second-half spell. Inkaras then set up a decisive last game against the Spanish side by beating Iberia 2-1. Goals from Rimvydas Bakus and Rimkevicius set the hosts on their way before a 33rd-minute goal from Giorgi Altunashvili made for a nervous finish.

Viana double
In the penultimate group fixture, Iberia picked up their first win by defeating VIP 8-3, thanks largely to four goals from Nikoloz Kbiladze. To round off the section, Interviú made sure of first place by beating Inkaras 5-0 with Viana scoring twice in an assured display.


Group 4

Prato progress from tough section

Thursday, 09 October 2003

Prato C/5 showed their undoubted quality but had to work hard to reach the second qualifying round of the UEFA Futsal Cup.

Victory assured
The Italian contenders were surprisingly beaten 9-7 by FC AMMK Baku of Azerbaijan in their final Group 4 game. However, they were able to progress courtesy of their earlier victories against Slovakian side ŠK Program Dubnica nad Váhom and FK Oma of Latvia, who were the hosts of the mini-tournament.

First goal
Prato, who reached the same stage in last year’s competition, got the ball rolling with a 4-1 success against Dubnica. Andrea Bearzi scored the first goal of this year’s edition in the first minute and the Italian team did not look back. Andrea Rubei made it two before Felice Mastropierro put the game beyond the Slovakian side just before half-time.

Late double
Azerbaijani entrants AMMK started with a 3-3 draw against Oma, but had to come from behind to do so. A late Zaur Ramazanov double earned them a deserved point against the home team in Riga. Prato then made it two wins from two by seeing off Oma 7-4 in their next contest. Bearzi hit a hat-trick as Oma’s bright start was wiped out by a strong finish from Prato.

Brandis goal
AMMK then drew 1-1 with Dubnica - a result which made the last round of matches academic. Ramazanov had put AMMK in front in the eighth minute but a Daniel Brandís goal three minutes from time broke the Azeri team's hearts.

Academic result
It meant Prato would top the section regardless of their final fixture against AMMK. In an entertaining contest that saw eight goals in either half Prato let a 7-3 lead slip as they went down 9-7. AMMK showed that they have plenty of potential for future success, both in Ramazanov, who hit another two goals, and by finishing with an unbeaten record. In the final group contest, Dubnica were 6-3 winners against Oma to seal a third-place finish.


Group 6

Free-scoring Charleroi in fine form

Friday, 10 October 2003

Action 21 Charleroi sent out an emphatic message to the rest of the UEFA Futsal Cup contenders by cruising to victory in Group 6.

Goals galore
The classy Belgian side, runners-up in the first two editions of the club competition, scored 61 goals in their three mini-tournament games with FC Zarea Balti of Moldova, PA Nova Gliwice of Poland and FC Olimpic Tirana of Albania all on the receiving end. The latter side took the biggest defeat in the opening game of the round-robin event.

Andre hits ten
Charleroi were 44-3 winners against Olimpic with Brazilian star Andre scoring an incredible ten times. Amazingly, Olimpic actually took the lead through Ilir Kuluraj's first-minute goal but it was one-way traffic after that with the Albanian squad of just seven players on the receiving end of a heavy defeat. The 23-year-old Kuluraj scored all three of his side's goals.

Hosts beaten
A less dramatic scoreline came in the next game, when Balti ran out 4-1 winners against mini-tournament hosts Gliwice. Sergiy Kostyuchenko's hat-trick gave the Moldovan side success. Balti came up short, however, in their next contest against Charleroi. Andre was again the hero, scoring twice in each half in a 10-3 triumph.

Excellent success
Gliwice gave their home fans something to cheer in their next fixture, beating Olimpic 14-1. Daniel Lebiedzinski scored four times to give the Polish side an excellent victory. Next up was the meeting of Balti and Olimpic, with the Albanians hoping to finish on a high.

Eight goals
However, Balti recorded an 18-6 victory to ensure six points from their three games. Grigoriy Kyrychenko scored eight times in an outstanding display although Olimpic had their moments and Kuluraj ended the competition as he started it with a hat-trick. The stage was set for Charleroi's meeting with Gliwice, with few in the home support truly confident their team could triumph.

Progression sealed
The match stayed true to form, with the Belgian team cruising to a 7-0 success and first place in the group. After Leo's early goal, Andre and Pedro Medina each scored a double in a professional performance that sealed qualification for the second round.