Courtesy: UEFA.com

Second pair book their places

Wednesday, 11 October 2006

FC Shakhtar Donetsk and Futsal Club Gödöllö secured progress from the UEFA Futsal Cup Main round today while Group 1 hosts KMF Partizan Sarajevo kept their hopes alive with an emphatic comeback against Slov-Matic Fofo Bratislava.

Duo through
In Group 5, 2005/06 semi-finalists Shakhtar and hosts Gödöllö began on Tuesday with comfortable victories against Toligma Chisinau and FC Raba of Riga respectively. And second wins today ensured the Ukrainian and Hungarian champions booked their places in the Elite round with a match to spare. Oleg Solodovnyk's Shakhtar defeated Raba 3-0 and then Gödöllö saw off Toligma 6-1. The top two will meet on Friday for first place with Gödöllö needing only a draw.

Top two draw
Meanwhile in Sarajevo, Partizan and Bratislava were looking to bounce back from Matchday 1 reverses against Kairat Almaty and Arzignano Grifo C/5. It seemed at half-time that Bratislava were in a strong position as they held a 2-0 advantage, but after the break Sarajevo hit six without reply to revive their hopes. They will still need to defeat Kairat to go through on Friday after the Kazakhstani side, who like Shakhtar reached the semi-finals last season, drew 2-2 with Italy's Arzignano, who know a draw against eliminated Bratislava will confirm their progress.

Thursday fixtures
On Thursday Sporting Clube de Portugal and Group 3 home side Clearex Chorzów, who have already clinched the top two places, will face each other for top spot while KMF Alfa Parf Skopje and Adana Yerevan play for pride after two losses. The remaining three pools, Group 2, 4 and 6 also start tomorrow. All 12 eventual qualifiers take their places alongside the top four seeds - holders Boomerang Interviú, MFK Dinamo Moskva, Action 21 Charleroi and Spanish outfit El Pozo Murcia - in December's Elite round, with the draw being held on 3 November. Ultimately, all four Elite groups will send one team to the 'final four' tournament, scheduled for 26-28 April.




Courtesy: UEFA.com

Skövde show all-round ability

Wednesday, 11 October 2006

by Jan Juhlin

from Gothenburg

Skövde AIK's football team were celebrating promotion to Sweden's third level this weekend after victory against IK Sleipner - and as a futsal outfit they are proving themselves a true European force. Not bad considering that before making their successful UEFA Futsal Cup bow, they had never played indoors.

Second priority
They won the right to be Sweden's first representatives in this competition with a 10-1 victory against Tenhult. However, before travelling to Bulgaria to make their continental debut they were not even playing futsal, as the team that claimed the national title was made up of their eleven-a-side squad, and once pre-season began in January they switched back to the outdoor game.

Success achieved
It did not get in the way of success in the preliminary round, though, as they defeated KF Tirana, home team FC Mladost and Malta's Hibernians FC to progress, meaning Sweden were the only ones of the six 'debutant' nations in the competition to have their club reach the Main round. Not bad, especially considering not all their squad could travel due to work or study commitments, despite financial support from the Skövde local authority and Swedish Football Association.

Technical exercise
Now Skövde are in Croatia to play Athina' 90 Athens, hosts MNK Split and Athina' 90 in Group 2 on Thursday, Friday and Sunday, but although the top two will advance to join the giants of the game in December's Elite round, the club continue to focus on the eleven-a-side code. Coach Gudmunder 'Gummi' Magnuson explained: "I know that many teams have a specific futsal team, but we don't. However, we've got a good set of skilful players and we see it as a good way for them to improve their technique and pace."

Players to watch
As for the players to watch, Magnuson suggests: "Charbel Abraham, Oskar Nielsen, Johan Johansson and Oskar Öst are all players with good technique who work well on small surfaces, but we need the whole team to play well if we are to succeed."



Courtesy: UEFA.com


Portugal and Poland take plaudits

Tuesday, 10 October 2006

Sporting Clube de Portugal and Clearex Chorzów have become the first teams to win through to the UEFA Futsal Cup Elite round while 2005/06 semi-finalists Kairat Almaty and FC Shakhtar Donetsk both made winning starts in their groups.

Last-day decider
The Portuguese and Polish champions each made it two wins out of two to confirm the two qualifying positions from Group 3, although their head-to-head meeting on Thursday will determine who finishes first in the section. Sporting confirmed their progress with a 4-2 victory against KMF Alfa Parf Skopje while Chorzów were 7-3 winners against FC Adana Yerevan.

Adolfo double
Sporting, bidding to follow in the footsteps of SL Benfica who reached the final in 2003/04, were never in trouble today against the team from F.Y.R. Macedonia. Davi opened the scoring in the early stages and once Adolfo doubled the advantage in the 16th minute, Sporting could relax. Adolfo made it 3-0 midway through the second half before Zoran Leveski reduced the deficit. Sporting goalkeeper Cristiano wrapped up the win with a long-range effort before Leveski added a second consolation.

Filipczak hits four
Things were more complicated for Chorzów in the day’s first game. The mini-tournament hosts, who like Sporting competed in the very first UEFA Futsal Cup back in 2001/02, trailed 2-1 to their Armenian opponents in the 23rd minute but came back strongly. Much of that was down to Krzysztof Filipczak’s four goals, including the crucial equaliser in the 30th minute. Adana will hope to avoid finishing in last place in the section when they take on Skopje on Thursday, before the top two meet.

Kairat success
In Group 1, Kairat made a solid start in Sarajevo as two goals from Etienne and one by Pica Pau gave them a 3-0 win against Slov-Matic Fofo Bratislava. Italy's Arzignano Grifo C/5 lead the way as they defeated hosts KMF Partizan Sarajevo 5-0. Fabrizio Amoroso scored on 12 minutes and Andrea Piccinini, John Pinilla, Danilo and Fernando Wilhelm all struck late on. Arzignano and Kairat meet on Wednesday as Partizan take on Bratislava.

Shakhtar win
Shakhtar lead Group 5 thanks to a 6-1 victory against preliminary round qualifiers Toligma Chisinau. Ian Iacovenco put through a sixth-minute own goal but Toligma's lead swiftly disappeared thanks to Oleg Miroshnyk and Oleksandr Kondratyuk put Shakhtar ahead before half-time. After the break Ramis Mansurov scored twice and Serhiy Sytin and Miroshnyk added further goals. Hungarian group hosts Futsal Club Gödöllö, who meet Toligma next, defeated FC Raba of Riga 4-0 as János Madarász scored twice before the break and Tamás Szente managed two in quick succession early in the second period.

Final four
The remaining three groups start on Thursday, with the top two from each to take their place alongside the top four seeds - holders Boomerang Interviú, MFK Dinamo Moskva, Action 21 Charleroi and Spanish outfit El Pozo Murcia - in December's Elite round, with the draw being held on 3 November. Ultimately, all four Elite groups will send one team to the 'final four' tournament, scheduled for 26-28 April.



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