Courtesy: UEFA.com

Final four aim for futsal Elite

Monday, 4 December 2006

by Paul Saffer

Holders Boomerang Interviú begin their defence of the UEFA Futsal Cup this week as the top four seeds join the 12 qualifiers in the Elite round.

Fierce competition
Only the first-placed sides in the mini-tournaments in Verona, Moscow, Chorzow and Budapest will compete in the decisive final four phase next April. With the group contenders led respectively by Boomerang, two-time finalists MFK Dinamo Moskva, 2004/05 champions Action 21 Charleroi and Spanish title-holders El Pozo Murcia FS - all excused the preliminary and Main round due to their ranking - competition is sure to be fierce.

Holders enter
Boomerang are involved in Group A, which is the last to get going on Thursday. Having warmed up last week with a 5-3 Spanish league defeat of two-time European champions Playas de Castellón FS, Boomerang open against Czech champions CC LKW Jistebnik and play former semi-finalists MNK Split 24 hours later, but the group could well come down to their Sunday encounter with Italian hosts Arzignano Grifo C/5, who can expect the noisy backing of 1,300 fans and are captained by Brazilian 1996 FIFA Futsal World Cup winner Marcio Brancher.

Moscow challenge
Dinamo, the side beaten by Boomerang in last year's final and by Charleroi 12 months before that, stage Group B and kick off today against Sporting Clube de Portugal in a daunting mini-tournament also containing 2005/06 semi-finalists FC Shakhtar Donetsk and Romania's CIP Deva. Dinamo and Shakhtar face off on Thursday and the Russian champions can take hope from having beaten their Ukrainian rivals 6-2 and 1-0 in the equivalent stage over the last two editions. However, their 5-4 defeat a week ago by neighbours MFK Dina Moskva, though followed by a 3-1 win, proves even Dinamo are beatable.

Open group
Charleroi are seeded in Group C, staged by Poland's Clearex Chorzów between Tuesday and Friday, but the financial problems that nearly forced the tournaments's only three-time finalists out of business this summer have weakened their squad and allows the hosts and other contenders MFK Marbo Beograd and Azerbaijan's Araz Naxçivan real hope of competing for the title next spring. Indeed, Araz have won all of their fixtures in 2006/07, meaning their Wednesday meeting with Charleroi is certainly one to watch.

Murcia aim
Murcia broke Boomerang's stranglehold on the Spanish title last season; now they are hoping to snatch their European crown just as the Madrid team succeeded Playas de Castellón FS in 2004. But not only will Murcia begin Group D today against Hungarian hosts Futsal Club Gödöllö who can expect a mighty backing at their Körcsarnok home, but tomorrow they must face Kairat Almaty, who reached the semi-finals last season and have every intention of doing so again. FC Dorozhnik Minsk meet Kairat this evening, hoping to repeat their dramatic 5-4 defeat of the Kazakh representatives in 2004/05 - although in the next stage they lost 8-0 to Murcia - rather than the 4-1 reverse in last season's rematch.



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