Courtesy: UEFA.com


Spain still on course for hat-trick

Sunday 2 March 2008

FIFA Futsal World Cup holders Spain are through to Wednesday's play-off draw as the ten qualifying round groups concluded today. As well as the 2000 and 2004 world champions, Russia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Hungary, Belarus, Portugal and the Czech Republic joined previously guaranteed pool winners Italy, Slovenia and Ukraine in topping their sections to move a step closer to the autumn's finals in Brazil along with best runners-up Romania and Croatia. uefa.com rounds up the action.

Play-off contenders (one team from each seeding pot will meet one team from the other)
Pot 1: Spain, Italy, Ukraine, Portugal, Russia, Czech Republic
Pot 2: Hungary, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Romania, Croatia

Qualifying round Matchday 3 round-up:

Group 1
With the group reduced to a one-off match in Belgrade, Russia rode their nerves to beat Serbia 3-2 and move through from the only group containing two of the 2007 UEFA European Futsal Championship qualifiers.

Group 2
Three teams were in contention at kick-off in Visoko, and Lithuania kept their hopes alive in the first game by defeating Estonia 7-0, though they now needed the Netherlands and hosts Bosnia-Herzegovina to play out a low-scoring draw. In that match both teams knew victory would take them through, and Bosnia-Herzegovina delighted the home fans with a 5-2 win against the 1989 runners-up.

Group 3
In a three-team group, Spain went into their home decider against Croatia in Caceres ahead on goal difference after each had defeated Georgia. Croatia scored first to raise hopes of an upset, but Spain were level by the break and went on to win 3-1. However, Croatia's 8-1 win against Georgia helped them through as one of the two runners-up with the best record against the teams first and third in their groups.

Group 4
Hungary's 15-0 defeat of England on Friday had taken them above Poland into first place, so they only needed a draw in the meeting of the two remaining contenders. And the home side in Gyongyos went even better, beating Poland 6-2 to end the group with three wins and 24 goals. In the early game F.Y.R. Macedonia secured third place with a 4-1 win against England.

Group 5
Belarus led Romania by one goal before the final set of games in Buzau, and the leaders put pressure on the home nation by overcoming Montenegro 5-0. Romania now needed to beat eliminated Belgium by six goals to finish top, but in the end edged a 4-3 victory to confirm Belarus as group winners. However, surprise European Championship qualifiers Romania's record was enough for them to be one of the two best runners-up.

Group 6
The Czech Republic needed to beat Azerbaijan in Chrudim to pip their rivals to first place, and a thriller ensued. But it was the home fans that ended happy, as the Czech Republic won 3-2. Finland edged to a 1-0 win against Armenia to finish third.

Group 7
Slovenia had already secured first place with victories against Albania and Greece, and celebrated with a 13-0 defeat of hosts Malta, who had only lost narrowly in their previous matches. Albania squeaked into second thanks to a 7-6 win against Greece.

Group 8
Italy, like Slovenia, were assured of top spot prior to today and completed a perfect run in Pescara as they saw off Andorra 9-0 to finish with the best record in any of the groups, with three wins and 28 goals scored to one conceded. Kazakhstan beat Cyprus 8-3 to end as runners-up.

Group 9
Slovakia's 4-0 win against Latvia in the first game in Aydin left Portugal only needing to avoid a three-goal defeat by hosts Turkey to ensure progress. The European semi-finalists raced into a 3-0 half-time lead and despite conceding two second-half goals, they held on to win.

Group 10
Ukraine's victories against Israel and Moldova had taken them through and a 6-2 defeat of home side Bulgaria further signalled their intent, though they did trail by two goals at one stage. Second place in Varna went to Israel with a 2-0 win against Moldova.








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