Courtesy: UEFA.com

Contenders flying at home

Friday 5 October 2007

The UEFA Futsal Cup Elite round begins on Sunday week, and most of the 16 contenders have been warming up in domestic action. uefa.com looks at how they are doing prior to the mini-tournaments which will decide the identity of April's final four.

Group A
Reining Spanish champions ElPozo Murcia FS are the only team on three wins out of three in the División de Honor, opening up a two-point lead over Interviú Fadesa last weekend as they won 4-1 at A. Lobelle de Santiago. HMNK Gospić began the Croatian season on 29 September with a 4-0 victory against MNK Potpićan 98 while KMF Marbo Beograd start the defence of their Serbian title on Saturday. Clearex Chorzów, who will stage Group A, opened the Polish campaign with a 5-1 win at Marioss Gazownik Wawelno last month.

Group B
UEFA Futsal Cup holders MFK Dinamo Moskva continue their Russian league fixtures tonight against MFK Tyumen in what already looks a pivotal double-header. Dinamo are still unbeaten and are top but Tyumen, two points behind, have won all their eight fixtures and have two games in hand. Dinamo have also been in Russian Cup action, last week winning the first leg of their last-16 tie 5-0 at Zvezda-Istland Irkutsk. SL Benfica overcame Fundação JA last week to stay within three points of joint leaders AR Freixieiro and CF Os Belenenses after three matches. Mini-tournament hosts Luparense Calcio A5 lead Serie A1 with three wins, the most recent a 3-2 victory at Perugia Calcio A5, while European newcomers KMF Municipium Casino Pljevlja open their domestic season in Montenegro on Sunday.

Group C
Kairat Almaty began well in Kazakhstan by beating Tulpar-Ikar Qaraghandy 4-2 and 7-2 last weekend. Belgian debutants Futsal Topsport Antwerpen are also looking good, having scored 21 goals in their three wins – a perfect start matched by former European champions Action 21 Charleroi. FK Era-Pack Chrudim, who will be at home in this group in the Czech Republic, lost their league opener 8-5 at Eco Investment Praha and Slov-Matic Fofo Bratislava also suffered a setback in their most recent fixture, a 5-4 home defeat by FC Patrik Senica.

Group D
MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg, who will make their European bow on home territory, are third in Russia. They lie four points behind the champions Dinamo having lost twice, but opened their cup campaign with a 7-1 win at Norilsky Nikel-2 Norilsk. Hapoel Ironi Rishon Lezion have been displaying their skills in Europe rather than Israel where the domestic season is yet to get under way, but SK Energia are top of the Ukrainian league following a 3-1 win at neighbours and previous leaders TVD Lviv. CIP Deva have a 100 per cent record in Romania after three games, beating previously undefeated ACS Odorheiu Secuiesc 3-0 on Monday.




Courtesy: UEFA.com

Montenegro's futsal pioneers

Monday 8 October 2007

by Aleksandar Radović

from Podgorica

KMF Municipium Casino Pljevlja's reward for winning the first Montenegrin futsal title was to be that nation's pioneer in European competition – and they have already earned a place among the top 16.

European run
In August's Preliminary round they defeated AGBU Ararat Nicosia FC 5-3, Issy Futsal 3-2 and KS Ali Demi 3-0 and the step up into the Main round did not faze Municipium the next month as they held Futsal Topsport Antwerpen and beat Futsal Club Gödöllö 5-1 and Athina '90 Athens 5-0 to go through with the Belgian champions. Their reward is an Elite round campaign in which they face Italian hosts Luparense Calcio A5, 2004 runners-up SL Benfica and holders MFK Dinamo Moskva from 18 October.

Quick rise
The team from a small town in the north of Montenegro are no strangers to top-level futsal, however. Founded five years ago in the old Serbo-Montenegrin league, they joined the top flight in 2004/05 and reached the championship play-off final, losing to KMF Marbo Beograd having won the first leg 2-1, and they were pipped in the last four the next season. Last term, following the split with Serbia, they were unbeaten in the 18-game regular season and defeated Piramida CKB Podgorica 5-3 on aggregate to win the title.

Realistic
Backed by ambitious owner Dušan Šarić, they brought in Serbian internationals Zoran Benić, Siniša, Trajanović and goalkeeper Predrag Brzaković over the summer. Still, coach Dejan Knežević is realistic about their hopes of reaching the final four. "We are not living in the clouds," he said. "Dinamo, Benfica and Luparense are among the best European clubs and we are debutants. But we will not surrender without a fight, because we want to show that we deserve a place among them." To make things harder, Benić and Trajanović are both injured. "That's another reason why we don't expect a miracle," Knežević added. "We will leave miracles until next season when we will be ready to go to the final four."

Pride
Captain Zoran Zarić is determined that they will emerge with pride intact. "We already achieved great success by going through two rounds," he said. "Before the first mini-tournament in Paris, we want just to see where we belonged in Europe. After we won the Preliminary round group, our aim was to try to cause a surprise in Budapest against Futsal Topsport Antwerpen. Now, we want to show that we are not here by accident, but we can't say we will be better than Dinamo, Benfica and Luparense."



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