Courtesy: UEFA.com


Croatia complete list of futsal pioneers

Monday 14 April 2008

by Paul Saffer

The lineup for the inaugural UEFA European Under-21 Futsal Tournament finals is complete after Spain and Croatia clinched the last two remaining berths on Sunday.

Spain style
Hosts Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Italy were already confirmed in the event from 6-14 December in St Petersburg after a week of qualifiers, and the senior world and European champions Spain needed only a point against Slovakia in Alcobendas to win Group 3 and join the finalists. Typically, Spain achieved their aim in style with an 8-0 win, with five of the strikes coming from captain Sergio Lozano and Ernesto Casan, Raúl Campos and Jorge Barroso also on the scoresheet as the home nation ended the mini-tournament with three victories, having registered 25 goals without reply. Slovakia finished second in the group and Greece took third as they defeated competitive futsal debutants Switzerland 5-3.

Croatia edge Czechs
Group 7 was the last to be decided and three teams were in contention at kick-off. That fell to two alter the first game as Croatia defeated already-eliminated Armenia 14-1, to leave home side F.Y.R. Macedonia four points adrift ahead of their evening encounter with the Czech Republic, who had led on goal difference after Matchday 2 but now needed to win by a margin of eleven to book their ticket to St Petersburg. However in a tense game they trailed twice early on, only led 4-3 at half-time and the Czech Republic's eventual 9-4 win left them short. The last qualifiers are played in Group 6 on Monday as Italy, already holding an unassailable lead, play Moldova after Turkey take on France.

UEFA European Under-21 Futsal Tournament qualifiers
Hosts: Russia
Group 1: Slovenia
Group 2: Ukraine
Group 3: Spain
Group 4: Netherlands
Group 5: Kazakhstan
Group 6: Italy
Group 7: Croatia






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