Courtesy: UEFA.com


Dobovicnik hails Slovenia success

Monday 3 March 2008

by Domenic Aquilina from Malta

Slovenia coach Andrej Dobovicnik was delighted as his team celebrated reaching the FIFA Futsal World Cup play-offs with a record win against Malta.

'Very pleased'
Victories against Greece and Albania had ensured that Slovenia would top qualifying Group 7 regardless of their final-day result against the mini-tournament hosts. As it is, the 13-0 victory, including hat-tricks from Slaviša Goranovic and Gorazd Drobnic, was Slovenia biggest futsal win away from home and gives them hopes of the forthcoming play-offs, where they will be paired with either Spain, Italy, Ukraine, Portugal, Russia or the Czech Republic in Wednesday's draw. "To be honest I did expect a lot from my team before the tournament began," Doboviènik told uefa.com. "Yes I am very pleased by the way things have gone and of course by our qualification."

Albania win thriller
There was consolation for Albania in the early game on Sunday as they edged a thriller against Greece, the lead changing hands several times before Ardit Behari made it 7-6 in the final seconds. It was not enough for them to progress as one of the best runners-up, but six points was a good return for a team that lost all their 2007 UEFA European Futsal Championship preliminary round fixtures.

'Happy man'
Albania coach Edi Martini said: "I am a very happy man today. This win means a lot to me and to my team, especially when you consider we had key players who did not make it to Malta. So this was, you might say, a makeshift squad which managed to put up creditable performances. Finally a big thank you for the Maltese hospitality during the tournament."




Courtesy: UEFA.com


Hungary bullish over Brazil hopes

Monday 3 March 2008

by Márton Dinnyés

Hungary are the next hosts of the UEFA European Futsal Championship and they could be warming up at this year's FIFA Futsal World Cup finals in Brazil after cruising into the qualifying play-offs.

Comfortable wins
Staging Group 4 in Gyongyos, Hungary delighted the home fans with a 3-0 win against F.Y.R. Macedonia and 15-0 defeat of England to leave themselves only needed a draw against Poland on Sunday to qualify. From the moment Tamás Lódi gave them a first-minute lead, adding to his four goals against England, there was little doubt. János Madarász took his mini-tournament tally to nine with a first-half hat-trick before János Madarász and Szabolcs Tóth completed a 6-2 victory late on.

Coach's praise
"I wish every coach could have a team like this and players like this," said Hungary coach Mihály Kozma. "These guys are complete professionals and they really enjoyed the sensational atmosphere that the fans created. I know that we will be drawn against one of the best sides in the continent but we can play great futsal and even if we are not able to beat our next opponents we will definitely play well."

'Not afraid'
As one of the second-tier seeds, Hungary must beat Spain, Italy, Ukraine, Portugal, Russia or the Czech Republic over two legs to reach the finals, but Zsolt Gyurcsányi is bullish. "We will see who we will get but after these matches we are not afraid of anyone," he said.




Courtesy: UEFA.com


Futsal's finest await play-off fate

Tuesday 4 March 2008

The big names of European futsal will be present and correct when the FIFA Futsal World Cup qualifying play-off draw is made at 14.00 CET on Wednesday at UEFA headquarters, Nyon.

Dozen contenders
All of the five teams that represented Europe in Chinese Taipei four years ago – victors Spain, runners-up Italy, Ukraine, Portugal and the Czech Republic – made it through from last week's qualifying round, along with other former finals contenders Russia, Croatia and Hungary. Meanwhile, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Belarus will hope to go one better than in 2004 when they missed out at this two-legged stage and Romania, fresh from reaching their first UEFA European Futsal Championship finals last year, also hope to grab one of the six available berths, increased from five for this autumn's tournament in Brazil.

Two pots
Six teams have been placed in one of two pots depending on their UEFA coefficient, with Spain, Italy, Ukraine, Portugal, Russia and Czech Republic in Pot 1 and Hungary, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia and the qualifying round best runners-up Romania, Croatia (who cannot be paired with their group winners Spain) in Pot 2. The two-legged matches will be played between 29 March and 16 April.





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