Courtesy: UEFA.com


Action stations as Futsal Cup resumes

Thursday 4 September 2008

by Paul Saffer

Former winners Action 21 Charleroi, 2004 runners-up SL Benfica and past semi-finalists FC Shakhtar Donetsk are among the 24 teams in UEFA Futsal Cup Main round action from Thursday.

First groups
The top two teams in each of the six one-venue mini-tournaments progress and involved in the first of those are Italian side Luparense C/5, Serbia's KMF Ekonomac Kragujevac, Latvian team FK Nikars R¨©ga¨C one of six Preliminary round winners ¨C and Polish Group 2 hosts PA Nova Gliwice. That group ends on Sunday and the next day is the kick-off of Group 5, staged by Czech champions FK ERA-PACK Chrudim and including Iberia 2003 Tbilisi, the only club to have been involved in all eight editions of the competition.

Former winners
Shakhtar, who reached the last four in 2005/06, are among the teams in Group 4 in Hungary from Tuesday, while on Thursday week two pools begin, most notably Group 3 in which 2004/05 champions Charleroi are involved having been absent from Europe for the first time last season. The last mini-tournament, Group 1 in Montenegro, runs from 12-15 September and includes Benfica.

Elite round
Joining the 12 qualifiers in the Elite round draw on 25 September are the four top seeds, who received a bye to that stage ¨C holders MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg, former winners MFK Dinamo Moskva and Intervi¨² FS plus last season's fourth-placed team Kairat Almaty. The four Elite round groups will be played from 8-16 November with the winners advancing to April's one-venue final four event.

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