Courtesy: UEFA.com

Ekaterinburg step in Europe

Friday 12 October 2007

by Eduard Nisenboim

from Moscow

MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg will hope the backing of nearly 5,000 fans will help them make a dream UEFA Futsal Cup debut as they kick off the Elite round in a tough group against SK Energia, Hapoel Ironi Rishon Lezion and CIP Deva on Sunday.

Debut
Russian runners-up Ekaterinburg qualified for Europe as champions MFK Dinamo Moskva also claimed the continental title. Viz-Sinara have been seeded to this stage, and victory in the mini-tournament at the 4,608-capacity Palace of Sports would take them into April's final four. Well supported, Ekaterinburg gained their first major honour this year with the 2007 Russian Cup.

'Fresh and quick'
They are currently second in the league after 6-1 and 7-1 weekend wins against MFK Spartak Shelkovo, Dmitry Prudnikov scoring three goals to take his tally to 14, but Ekaterinburg are two points adrift of Dinamo having lost twice to them earlier in the campaign. "I am happy that we have systematically created scoring chances and taken them," said coach Sergey Skorovich. "As far as I can judge we were looking fresh and quick."

Energia threat
However, their task will not be easy as they begin against Energia, who deprived former UEFA Futsal Cup semi-finalists FC Shakhtar Donetsk of the Ukrainian title last season. Energia strolled through the Main round last month, beating Bulgaria's MFC Varna 10-1 and Politekhnik Yerevan 11-2, though they were then defeated by SL Benfica. The promising Denys Ovsyanykov and Oleksandr Kondratyuk each scored five goals in the Main round and veteran pair Valeriy Legchanov and Andriy Fedyuk claimed four each. However, against the hosts Energia will be without suspended 21-year-old Ukrainian international goalkeeper Volodymyr Kardash and prolific striker Serhiy Piddubnyy. Igor Kirkizh, 37 next week, will keep goal on Sunday.

Concerns
Energia coach Yuriy Kobzar said after the 8-1 weekend league win against Marrion Odessa that kept his team three points clear and unbeaten: "Before travelling to Ekaterinburg we tested out the style we will be using in the UEFA Futsal Cup Elite round and as a coach I was not impressed with how we coped. The lads managed to change their approach and everything went our way after the break but I still have mixed feelings with UEFA matches looming."

Deva realistic
Romanian champions Deva had mixed form in the Main round, losing their last game to HMNK Gospiæ and scraping through by a point. However in 2006/07 they beat Shakhtar and held Sporting Clube de Portugal in finishing second in an Elite round group behind Dinamo, and they provide the bulk of the Romania team who have qualified for their first UEFA European Futsal Championship finals next month in Porto. Coach Zoltán Jakab, who can call on eleven of his club players in his other role as leader of the national team, said: "We know that we are playing against three higher-rated teams and we hope to pull off a surprise. A surprise would be to finish second in the group and a huge surprise would be to qualify."

Israeli feat
Hapoel are the first Israeli entrants for several years, but they are one of only two clubs to have reached this stage after starting in August's Preliminary round. Indeed, they have won five of their six games on their European debut. Their sole defeat came against Main round hosts Clearex Chorzów though Hapoel subsequently finished top of that group in a three-way tie.

Additional reporting by Igor Linnyk & Paul-Daniel Zaharia




Courtesy: UEFA.com


Futsal's finest chase final four

Friday 12 October 2007

by Paul Saffer

The teams competing in this season's UEFA Futsal Cup final four from 24-26 April will become clear over the next week as the Elite round unfolds from Sunday.

Ekaterinburg launch
Holders MFK Dinamo Moskva and three fellow top seeds join 12 Main round qualifiers in four mini-tournaments, and the first games come in Group D in Russia. That pool is hosted by MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg, who are making their European bow having been domestic runners-up behind Dinamo last season. They face a tough opener against the team that beat FC Shakhtar Donetsk to the Ukrainian title, SK Energia, while Hapoel Ironi Rishon Lezion – one of two teams to have survived from August's Preliminary round – take on CIP Deva, the Romanian side who produced some impressive results in this stage in 2006/07.

Murcia return
Two more pools start on Monday. Poland's Clearex Chorzów stage Group A and start against Croatia's HMNK Gospiæ, but much attention will be on Spanish champions ElPozo Murcia, who hosted the final four last season, taking bronze, and are up against KMF Marbo Beograd. Over in the Czech Republic, FK Era-Pack Chrudim begin against top seeds Kairat Almaty, while Belgium’s Futsal Topsport Antwerpen – who ended the previously ever-present record of 2004/05 European champions Action 21 Charleroi - play Slov-Matic Fofo Bratislava.

Holders in action
Dinamo, only the second team to take the trophy outside Spain, are in Group B and start on Thursday against KMF Municipium Casino Pljevlja, Montenegro's first-ever representatives and the other team along with Hapoel to have come through two stages to reach the Elite round. Italy's Luparense Calcio A5 are staging the group and begin against 2003/04 runners-up SL Benfica.



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