Courtesy: UEFA.com


Futsal cream compete for finals places

Monday 3 November 2008

by Paul Saffer

The UEFA Futsal Cup Elite round starts on Saturday as a week of fixtures decides the competitors in April's final four event.

Dinamo kick off
Sixteen teams are taking part in four single-venue mini-tournaments, each featuring one of the top seeds entering in this round: holders MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg, former winners MFK Dinamo Moskva and Interviú Madrid, plus two-time semi-finalists Kairat Almaty. Dinamo are among those in action on Saturday in Group C, as they take on Romania's ACS Odorheiu Secuiesc and Croatian hosts MNK Nacional Zagreb meet Araz Naxçivan of Azerbaijan.

Holders at home
That mini-tournament ends on Tuesday, when Group A kicks off in Ekaterinburg, with the holders playing Italy's Luparense Calcio A5 and former semi-finalists FC Shakhtar Donetsk up against Slov-Matic Fofo Bratislava. The next day 2005 winners Action 21 Charleroi begin hosting duties in Group B against Czech champions FK Era-Pack Chrudim after an encounter between Kairat and Slovenian team KMN Gorica.

Final rematch
Group D runs from Thursday until next Sunday and will conclude with a match between the 2004 finalists Interviú and SL Benfica in Lisbon. First up, the Spanish champions take on Serbia's KMF Ekonomac Kragujevac and Benfica play Israeli side Hapoel Ironi Rishon Lezion. Only the four group winners progress to the showpiece stage, which will feature a semi-final round followed two days later by games for first and third place. The hosts will be chosen from among the four finalists.




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