Courtesy: FIFA.com

A month in futsal

Spanish clubs disappoint at the UEFA Futsal Cup, Brazilian league enters tenth year

(FIFA.com) 30 Mar 2005

Anybody who expected Spain's clubs to emulate the success of their World and European Championship-winning national team at the UEFA Futsal Cup would have been sorely disappointed. Both Spanish representatives, Boomerang Interviú and ElPozo Murcia made premature exits at the group stage of the competition. Their tormentors, Action 21 Charleroi and Dinamo Moscow, now meet in the two-legged final at the end of April.

With a Spanish team lifting the title every year since its inauguration in 2001/2002 - twice Playas de Castellón and last year Boomerang Interviú - many observers expected an all-Spanish Final this time after the two Iberian sides were drawn in different groups for the second round. However, it was the Belgium and Russian teams who took advantage of playing at home to deny both of the Iberian sides another shot at glory.

Both groups produced heart-stopping deciders: After Charleroi and Boomerang Interviú won their opening games, the head-to-head clash between the two teams would decide a place in the final.

Almost 7,000 Belgian fans packed into the Spiroudome to roar on their home side, who only needed a draw thanks to a superior goal difference from the first two matches. For long periods, the two goalkeepers found themselves in the thick of the action - Charleroi's Brazilian newcomer Fehrmann and Boomerang's Amado maintaining the deadlock.

Kelson eventually gave the Belgians the lead in the second half through a counter-attack before Neto and Gabriel fired back with two goals in three minutes for the Spaniards to turn the game on its head. The Belgian team threw caution to the wind in the closing stages, bringing on a fifth outfield player, and were rewarded for their boldness when Lucio levelled the score at 2-2 just 22 seconds before the final whistle, sending the finalists of 2002 and 2003 into the last two and the defending champions out of the tournament.

Belgian newspaper "Dernière Heure" hailed the game as "propagande pour le Futsal" - an advert for Futsal.

Dinamo Moscow prevail

The tournament in Group B played shortly afterwards in Moscow was no less exciting. This time Spanish hopes rested on ElPozo Murcia making their first appearance in the tournament. After a whirlwind start with two 8-0 victories against Minsk and Donezk, Murcia entered a deciding game against the muscovites who had also won their two opening games.

A draw would have sufficed for Murcia, but home advantage proved crucial once again as the spectators spurred on hosts Dinamo Moscow to a closely contested 5-4 victory in the Druzhba-Halle and a place in the final to be played on 23 and 30 April. It was Moscow who opened the score before building up a two-goal cushion (at 3-1 and 4-2). The Spaniards closed the deficit to 4-5 a minute from time, but the Russians held on to take victory.

"I am delighted that we have beaten one of the best teams in the world," Moscow coach Yuriy Rudnev enthused. He attributed the victory to the fantastic spirit in the team and good organisation and praised the defensive efforts of his players. "We were never afraid to win. That helped us," said Dinamo goalscorer Konstantin Maevski.

Murcia coach Duda told UEFA.com: "It was a disappointing defeat but we only have ourselves to blame." Fran Serrejón added: "We lost our concentration and suffered the consequences."

Spanish teams will now have to get used to the idea that competition is increasing stiff at European level. Teams such as Charleroi and Moscow are seeing the fruits of their hard work in recent years, and the gap between so called "big" teams and "small" teams is narrowing all the time. Perhaps the Spaniards will take their revenge in the 2005/2006 season.

Start of the Brazilian league

Meanwhile the new Futsal season has kicked off in Brazil. The Liga Futsal championship, which was launched in 1996, features Brazil's top 16 teams including reigning champions Carlos Barbosa. A preliminary round determines the best twelve teams, who are then divided between two groups (1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 12th in Group A, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th and 11th in Group B).

Home and away ties produce the two best teams in each group, who then progress to the semi-finals. The semi-finals and final are also two-legged affairs. Top scorer of the last two championships was Pablo for Carlos Barbosa with 25 and 27 goals, who now plays in the Spanish league for Playas de Castellón.

The 2005 season brings together teams from six different states (Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Goiás). From this season, the league will be completely operated by the Brazilian football association (CBFS), both on an organisational level as well as in terms of logistics and marketing.

The 16 teams

John Deere Futsal
Intelli/Penalty
Joinville/Krona/Dal Ponte
Carlos Barbosa
São Paulo/Santo André
ECB/São Bernardo
Malwee/Jaraguá
UCS/Metalcorte
Vasco da Gama/LANLIMP
Macaé
Atlântico
Ulbra
Poker/Petropolis/Ikinha
V&M Minas
Palmeiras/CELG
APTI/Umbro/Chapecó