Courtesy: UEFA.com


Seeded trio in good futsal form

Monday 17 September 2007

MFK Dinamo Moskva, MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg and ElPozo Murcia FS will all enter Tuesday's UEFA Futsal Cup Elite round draw in good heart off the back of promising domestic form.

Dinamo wins
That trio along with Kairat Almaty have been seeded into the last 16 of the tournament, just one round from April's final four. Holders Dinamo and 2006/07 Russian runners-up Viz-Sinara have been in Super League action for some time, and it is the reigning champions who lead the way again. Dinamo continued their unbeaten start this weekend as they won 7-3 and 7-5 at MFK Spartak Shelkovo. Joan and Sirilo both scored twice in the first game and Joan managed a hat-trick the next day. Dinamo are two points clear at the top, but second-placed MFK Tyumen have two games in hand having won all eight of their fixtures. Viz-Sinara are two further points back in third after drawing 2-2 and winning 10-3 at MFK Dina Moskva.

Murcia prevail
The Spanish División de Honor started at the weekend, and title-holders Murcia were given a tough test at Benicarló Onda Urbana. Wilde struck twice in the first two minutes and Bacaro Vinicius swiftly made it 3-0. But Valença, David and Tete ensured the half-time score was all-square and Isco put the home team ahead before Ciço equalised and Wilde won the game 5-4 in the last minute with his hat-trick goal. Unlike the Russian league, the Spanish league is decided by an eight-team end of season play-off. Kairat begin the defence of their Kazakhstani title on 29 September and the UEFA Futsal Cup Elite round runs from 13-21 October.




Courtesy: UEFA.com


Big names enter futsal reckoning

Tuesday 18 September 2007

The UEFA Futsal Cup Elite round draw is made at 13.00CET on Tuesday in Nyon with the chance to get into the second final four event the goal.

Seeded teams
Joining the 12 teams through from last week's Main round are the top four seeds - holders MFK Dinamo Moskva, their Russian rivals MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg, Spanish champions ElPozo Murcia FS and Kairat Almaty. Each of these teams will be placed in different groups, with two of the others to contain one Main round winner and two runners-up, and the remaining pair to have two first-place finishers and one club who ended in second. Teams who were in the same Main round group cannot meet. Among the clubs to have come through the last stage are two sides that began in August's Preliminary round - Hapoel Ironi Rishon Lezion, who ended Israel's three-year absence from the competition, and Montenegro's first entrants KMF Municipium Casino Pljevlja.

Four hosts
Ekaterinburg, Luparense Calcio A5, FK Era-Pack Chrudim and Clearex Chorzów have been picked as mini-tournament hosts and they will be kept apart in the draw, though that does not effect their overall seeding. The four groups will be played in the period 13-21 October, and the first-placed teams will progress to the final four from 24-26 April, with the hosts to be picked from the qualifying quartet to follow in the footsteps of Murcia, who staged the new-look event last season.

2007/08 UEFA Futsal Cup Elite round entrants:

Seeds (bye to Elite round)
MFK Dinamo Moskva (RUS)
ElPozo Murcia FS (ESP)
MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg (RUS)*
Kairat Almaty (KAZ)

Main round winners
Group 1: Hapoel Ironi Rishon Lezion (ISR)
Group 2: SL Benfica (POR)
Group 3: Luparense Calcio A5 (ITA)*
Group 4: Futsal Topsport Antwerpen (BEL)
Group 5: HMNK Gospiæ (CRO)
Group 6: FK Era-Pack Chrudim (CZE)*

Main round runners-up
Group 1: Clearex Chorzów (POL)*
Group 2: SK Energia (UKR)
Group 3: Slov-Matic Fofo Bratislava (SVK)
Group 4: KMF Municipium Casino Pljevlja (MNE)
Group 5: CIP Deva (ROU)
Group 6: KMF Marbo Beograd (SRB)

*Elite round hosts




Courtesy: UEFA.com

Futsal draw pairs Dinamo and Benfica


UEFA Futsal Cup holders MFK Dinamo Moskva will begin their title defence against SL Benfica, Luparense Calcio A5 and KMF Municipium Casino Pljevlja after the Elite round draw was made today.

Final four
The winners of the four groups played next month will progress to April's final four, Dinamo having won the inaugural showpiece event last year in Murcia. They are one of four teams starting their campaign in the Elite round as top seeds, with 12 sides having progressed from last week's Main round.

April finale
Another of the seeds, ElPozo Murcia FS, who finished third last season as hosts, are back as Spanish champions and will take on HMNK Gospic, KMF Marbo Beograd and Clearex Chorzów in Group A. MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg, making their European debut as Russian runners-up behind Dinamo last season, will stage Group D and play Hapoel Ironi Rishon Lezion, SK Energia Lviv and FC CIP Deva. The other top ranked club, Kairat Almaty, are up against Futsal Topsport Antwerpen, FK Era-Pack Chrudim and Slov-Matic Fofo Bratislava in Group C. The final four will be played from 26-28 April and hosted by one of the qualifiers.

2007/08 UEFA Futsal Cup Elite round: 13-21 October

Hosts in bold

Group A
ElPozo Murcia FS
HMNK Gospic
KMF Marbo Beograd
Clearex Chorzów

Group B
MFK Dinamo Moskva
SL Benfica
Luparense Calcio A5
KMF Municipium Casino Pljevlja

Group C
MFSK Kairat Almaty
Futsal Topsport Antwerpen
FK Era-Pack Chrudim
Slov-Matic Fofo Bratislava FC

Group D
MFK VIZ-Sinara Ekaterinburg
Hapoel Ironi Rishon Lezion
SK Energia Lviv
CIP Deva




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