Courtesy: UEFA.com


Relief for successful coaches

Friday 12 September 2008


Successful seven make merry on Friday

The UEFA Futsal Cup Elite round took shape today as seven of the eight remaining places were filled.

Septet progress
FK Era-Pack Chrudim, Hapoel Ironi Rishon Lezion, Luparense Calcio A5 and KMF Ekonomac Kragujevac had already come through the Main round to join top seeds MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg, MFK Dinamo Moskva, Interviú FS and Kairat Almaty in November's Elite round. And today Action 21 Charleroi, ACS Odorheiu Secuiesc, FC Shakhtar Donetsk, MNK Nacional Zagreb, Araz Naxçivan, Slov-Matic Fofo Bratislava and SL Benfica also booked their places in next Friday's draw, with only KMF Municipium Casino Pljevlja and KMN Gorica still in the running to take the remaining berth on Sunday.

Benfica cruise
Group 1 is the only mini-tournament where the two qualifying spots have not yet been filled, but 2004 finalists Benfica are through after following up their narrow 2-1 win against Gorica yesterday with an 8-0 defeat of Athina '90 Athens. Zé Maria, Ricardinho and João Marçal all scored twice and Pedrinho and Ricardo Pereira claimed further goals. That result was enough for them as Montenegrin mini-tournament hosts Municipium, who defeated Athina on Thursday, drew 4-4 with Gorica. Slovenian side Gorica, who came through the Preliminary round, can pip Municipium to the next stage on goal difference if they defeat Athina on Sunday and the home side lose to Benfica.

Charleroi advance
No such doubts in Group 3 where 2005 champions Charleroi and Romanian hosts Odorheiu are through after securing second wins. Charleroi overcame Viten Orsha of Belarus 3-0 with goals from Lúcio Rosa, André Vanderlei and Zico, and Odorheiu then defeated French side Roubaix Futsal 4-2. Action 21 lead the home side on goal difference so will secure first place with a draw on Sunday. It was an identical story in Group 6, with Araz and Bratislava victorious for the second day running. Bratislava, having beaten FC Nadin Sofia 7-1 on Matchday 1, matched that scoreline against Sweden's Skövde AIK. Araz, staging the pool in Baku, followed up their 11-2 defeat of Skövde with a 6-1 win against Nadin to go top on goal difference.

Shakhtar on top
By contrast, Group 4 went down to today's concluding game in Debrecen's Fönix Arena as FC Shakhtar Donetsk and MNK Nacional Zagreb were a point ahead of FC Blok Beverwijk at the start of play. But after the first match the two qualifiers were known as Nacional's 2-0 win against Beverwijk ensured both they and Shakhtar went through. And it was the Ukrainian team that beat Nacional to first place on goal difference with an 8-1 win against Hungarian hosts MVFC Berettyóújfalu. After early goals from Yevgen Yunakov and Vassura, Ramis Mansurov claimed an eight-minute hat-trick and Dmytro Kameko made it six before the break. Dmytro Shuvalov extended the lead and although Iuliu Safar pulled one back, Fumasa had the last word with two minutes left.





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