Courtesy: UEFA

Charleroi quickly into action

Wednesday, 6 October 2004

Action 21 Charleroi are through to the UEFA Futsal Cup second qualifying round for the fourth time in the tournament's four-year history - but were made to work hard by Group 5 hosts FC Bodu Bucuresti to progress in Romania.

Opening victory

Belgian champions Charleroi, whose Brazilian-dominated side reached the first two finals and were only denied a third appearance by a narrow margin last season, were in their usual emphatic form from the off, defeating Finland's Ilves FS 8-0. Ricardo Bezerra Da Silva took just four minutes to open the scoring, Leo and Lúcio Rosa each scored a goal in both halves and Marcelo Almeida Martins, Davi Ribeiro De Carvalho and Belgian forward Karim Chaibai all added to the victory.

Bodu victory

Earlier the same day, Bodu defeated FK Inkaras of Lithuania 5-2. Teenager Deividas Grazys had given Inkaras an early lead, but Robert Lupu levelled before the break and Nicolae Moraru, Iurie Romaniuc, Marian Stanciu and Robert Matei struck for the home side in the second half, during which time Inkaras had Daividas Kalpokas and Audrius Markevicius given red cards, although they did score through Audrius Juozaitis.

Hat-tricks galore

Results were similar the next day. Charleroi overwhelmed Inkaras 11-0, Alex and Julien Pauly each claiming hat-tricks. It was then another 5-2 win for Bodu, Lupu's treble proving the key to ending any hopes Ilves had of progressing.

Ilves consolation

Ilves did, however, finish in third place as they beat Inkaras 4-3 on the final day, Juha-Pekka Torvinen's hat-trick proving decisive for the tournament debutants against the fourth-time entrants, who saw red cards handed to Vytautas Vaskunas, Grazys and Juozaitis. But the real interest was in the first-place decider, as the hosts sought to deny Charleroi.

Charleroi through

A strong first-half performance from Charleroi proved the key to an eventual 9-4 triumph, as Moraru's own goal was swiftly added to by Lúcio Rosa. Romaniuc pulled one back on seven minutes, but Ribeiro De Carvalho then scored and Lúcio Rosa claimed a hat-trick before the break, with Matei red-carded seconds prior to the interval with his side 6-1 down. Bezerra Da Silva, Eder Antonio Souza De Oliveira and Andre extended the lead, but two late goals from Moraru - this time for Bodu - and one for Lupu, reduced the home's sides arrears.

Dragomir happy

Bodu president Bogdan Dragomir was happy with his side's competition bow, saying: "I cannot be upset with my boys. We came from the fourth pot [of seeds], but we won two matches and caused Charleroi serious problems. We represented Romania with dignity." Charleroi now meet the winners of Groups 1, 3 and 7 and in the second qualifying round in March, aiming to reach their third final