Courtesy: UEFA.com

Quintet start with wins

Monday 10 September 2007

Slov-Matic Fofo Bratislava, Luparense Calcio A5, Hapoel Ironi Rishon Lezion, FK Era-Pack Chrudim and KMF Marbo Beograd all made winning starts to their UEFA Futsal Cup Main round campaigns today.

Slovakian success
Three of the six mini-tournament kicked off on Monday and among them were Group 3 in Baki. Bratislava, who contain the backbone of the Slovakian national squad, emerged from a competitive first half 3-1 up against FC Camelot Chisinau after extraordinary goal from Igor Nagy just before the break and they evenutally secured a 6-2 victory.

Solid Luparense
Nearly 2,000 fans were present when hosts Araz Naxçivan took on Italy's Luparense, whose coach Jesús Velasco was familiar with the Azerbaijani champions from a previous campaign with Prato C/5. He made sure their defence was kept tight and they took the lead at the end of the first half before finishing off a 3-0 win. Velasco said: "It is just the beginning of the tournament. Two other matches are left and the team needs to maintain focus. Overconfidence is never a good ally." On Tuesday his team take on Bratislava hoping to secure one of the two Elite round slots while Chisinau play Araz.

Hapoel happy
In Group 6, Beograd secured a comfortable 5-2 win against Preliminary round qualifiers Skövde AIK, while the Swedish side's next opponents, Czech hosts FK Era-Pack Chrudim, overcame Ilves FS Tampere of Finland 6-3. Group 1 in Poland was reduced to three teams when KMF Alfa Parf Skopje withdrew. In the game that did take place, Israeli team Ironi Rishon continued their good form from the last stage as they overcame FC Mapid Minsk 7-3. A draw against hosts Clearex Chorzów on Tuesday would take Hapoel through while Group 4 will also be decided with Futsal Topsport Antwerpen, KMF Municipium Casino Pljevlja and Futsal Club Gödöllö all in the running.



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