Courtesy: Koper 2008 Official Web Site


WUC Futsal - day 2 round up

by Damon Shaw


URU 3:2 (2:1) FRA
Uruguay came from behind once more to gain a massive victory and seal their place in the quarter finals along with Serbia. France started well and created a few chances and it was an own goal from Nacho De Leon that put France ahead. Uruguay equalised and went ahead just after 10 minutes through Francisco Arias and Nicolas Pirotto. Uruguay never caused a serious threat to the France goal and found themselves under pressure from a determined french side vying to reach the quarter finals. The constant pressure from France left them exposed at the back and it was Uruguay who virtually sealed the victory when Arias slotted home the third, and his second. France's pressure paid off, but it was too late as they could only finish one of their few late chances leaving them to fight for 3rd place with Turkey, who they meet tomorrow.

UKR 4:1 (1:0) SVK
Ukraine secured qualification from their group with a win over Slovakia, who now need a win tomorrow over Portugal to progress.
Ukraine were once again a strong outfit but only led 1-0 at half time through Roganov. The game was evenly balanced until Ukraine doubled their lead on 23 minutes with an unfortunate own goal by Anton Bencic.
Ukraine looked in control and scored the third with 12 minutes remaining.
This spurred Slovakia into playing with a flying goalkeeper for much of the last 10 minutes and it paid off with a goal by captain Gabriel Bartosek.
Slovakia had few clear cut chances and never looked like clawing their way back into it. Ukraine finished the game off on 39 minutes to make it 4-1.

BRA 3:2 (2:1) ISR
Israel took a shock lead against Brazil despite having hardly any possession. Brazil just couldn't break the Israelis down and Dmitri Degtyar broke free and scored on the counter attack to give Israel an unlikely lead.
They held out for 6 minutes and it was goalkeeper Kleber who once again broke the deadlock for Brazil, taking his tally to 2 in as many games.
Brazil took the lead two minutes later but Israel kept their nerve and stayed in the game right until the last minute. Brazil opened up a two goal cushion 4 minutes into the second half, but Israel erased that deficit within three minutes and kept the game alive. Both teams had chances and Israel coach Victor Hadad is optimistic going into tomorrow's game after running Brazil close.
?Tomorrow is the most important game for us to qualify [for the quarter finals]. If we will be fresh I will hope that we can pass the Czech Republic.? Expectations will be surpassed if Israel can negotiate the Czechs and Hadad will be more than happy to play for positions 1-8. "We got a very very difficult group, but we try to do our best." And a 3-2 reverse to Brazil certainly isn't a bad result.


CHN 9:1 (5:1) GBR
China turned on the style to record their first victory of 2008 and look set for an improvement on 16th place 2 years ago. Their opponents were Great Britain, who did actually beat China in 2006, but didn't put up much of a fight this time around. The return of Stephen Harrison to the GB squad was a relief for head coach Dell, and GB started positively, creating more chances in the opening ten minutes than in the whole of the Slovenia defeat.
Harrison added some much needed experience and ability to the squad and orchestrated the best of Great Britain's early chances. It was, however, China, who broke the deadlock when Fei Yan slotted home after a fumble in the GB area.
China added a second and looked like adding more doom and gloom to Great Britain's campaign but Shane Gill got them back in the game when he pounced on a chance after 8 minutes to make the score 2-1. Great Britain then shot themselves in the foot and conceded a sloppy third and China took advantage to go into the break 5-1 up. The second half saw GB sit back and defend allowing China to create more chances and in the end they won 9-1, the final goal coming on the stroke of full time.


SRB 8:2 (3:0) TUR
Before the game it was obvious that both teams will do everything to win. Serbia winning this match will be almost sure to play in quarter finals.
Turkey had to win if they are thinking about playing for higher positions. Since the kick off both teams tried to score a goal.
Game was very close. Turkey pushed their opponents to defence. But Serbia didn't give up and they counter-attacked Turkish goal all the time. First goal in this match was scored by Vladimir Stojanovic (SRB) in 3rd minute. 4 minutes later his friend picked up the score to 2:0.
In the next part of the game serbian players had many opportunities to score however Turkish goalkeeper had very good day and saved many shots. During 18th minute Serbia had free kick close to the goal but they shooted stright into crossbar. In the last minute of the first half serbian player Slobodan Janjic made a surprise shot and picked the score up to 3:0. Second half of the game began with Turkish attack but they shot in goal-post. In 25' Milan Rakic scored a goal and 3 minutes later his friend outwited Turkish goalkeeper by feinting shot and picked up the score to 5:0. 10 minutes before the end of the game Jolkan Girak (TUR) finally defeated opponents goalkeeper and scored first goal for his team. During next 5 minutes Serbian competitors scored two more goals. 2 minutes before the end Burgak Incedemir (TUR) scored second and also the last goal for his team in this game. Just before the end of the game Milan Radic (SRB) increased lead to 8:2. In next match Serbia face Uruguay and Turkey France.


POR 4-0 (2-0) KGZ
Both Portugal and Kyrgyzstan had to win this game. First minutes were very important for the whole of the match. Portugal attacked Kyrgyzstan goal since the very beginning. And it made a success. In the 3rd minute Joao Goncalves (POR) scored first goal for Portugal. It was also his 3rd goal in this tournament. 4 minutes later his friend from team scored his first goal on this Championship and Portugal was leading 2:0. Last part of the first half was full of scoring chances for both teams. However to the end of the first half the score has not changed.
Second part looked similar to the first one but it was getting more agressive. in 27 minute Kyrgyzstan player Zakir Kasimov made a foul on Portugal competitor and got red card. Portugal took advantage of this situation and few seconds later Paulo Duarte scored third goal for his team.
in the last part of the match Kyrgyzstan tried to make advantage over Portugal and goalkeeper played as 5th player. They managed to create some good opportunities to score but they didn't defeat Portugal goalkeeper. Just before the end of the game Vitor Luis (POR) increased the score to 4:0 by shot into an empty goal.
Tomorrow Portugal play against Slovakia and Kyrgyzstan face Ukraine.


CZE 14-1 (4-0) MAS
Yesterday both Czech Republic and Malaysia lost their games and today they had to win if they want to play for places 1-8. During the game Czech Republic was objectively better than their opponents. That represents final score 14:1. The best scorer was Vaclav Belada, who scored totally 6 goals in this game - and 3 in last 4 minutes as a flying goalkeeper. Consolation goal for Malaysia scored Abdul Karim Ahmed Faizal in the last minute of the game.
In last match in group B Czech Republic will play against Israel and Malaysia face Brazil.


SLO 4-3 (2-1) KAZ
After the first day Slovenia was a leader in group A. Win in this game means that they will compete for 1st-8th places. Since the kick off home team had more opportunities to score a goal. They seized the lead after Rok Mordej (SLO) shot. After that both teams tried to defeat opponents defense but without any result. Just before the end of the first half Slovenian player Andraz Gregorcic shot for a goal and increased lead to 2:0. Two minutes before the end of this part of the game Slovenia made a 6th foul and Daulet Sazanbayev (KAZ) defeated Slovenian goalkeeper.
Second half started with a second successful shot Rok Mordej (SLO) which increased lead to 3:1. 10 minutes later Slovenia scored 4th goal in this game. After that Kazakhstan players started to play more aggressive and in 2 minutes they scored 2 goals. This decreased Slovenian lead to 4:3. Kazakhstan had an opportunity to score an equalizer when Goran Josipovic got a yellow card but they didn't defeat Slovenian goalkeeper. Game finished 4:3 to Slovenia.
In the last game in group A Slovenia play against People's Republic of China and Kazakhstan faces Great Britain.






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