Courtesy: UEFA.com


Charleroi and Kairat confirm decider

Thursday 13 November 2008

Kairat Almaty and 2005 winners Action 21 Charleroi will play on Saturday for a place in April's UEFA Futsal Cup final four after second Elite round wins today while SL Benfica and two-time champions Interviú Madrid seem on a similar collision course in their pool.

Frantic end
Group B hosts Charleroi and Kairat, both of who played in one of the first two final four events, each won on Wednesday and repeated those victories today. Kairat are top on goal difference after defeating FK Era-Pack Chrudim 4-2. Tomáš Sluka gave the Czech side a fourth-minute lead but Pica Pau immediately equalised and Camara Sobral put Kairat in front at the break. The score remained 2-1 until a hectic final minute, which began when Kairat goalkeeper Gustavo took advantage of a desperate Chrudim attack to score. Lukáš Rešetár pulled one back but Giva struck at the death. Charleroi will need to beat Kairat at the weekend after ending KMN Gorica's hopes with a 2-1 victory.

Comfortable wins
Benfica are staging Group D in Lisbon and the 2004 runners-up overcame Israel's Hapoel Ironi Rishon Lezion 8-1. Pedrinho, Arnaldo, Rogério Vilela and Zé Maria gave Benfica a commanding 4-0 half-time lead. Oz Sabag reduced arrears but Pedrinho, Ricardinho, Arnaldo and César Paulo then struck for the Portuguese champions. Interviú, who beat Benfica in the 2004 final and defeated them again on the way to regaining the trophy in 2006, overcame Serbian team KMF Ekonomac Kragujevac 5-1. Betão opened the scoring in the third minute and Borja made it 2-0 at the break. After the interval Betão completed his hat-trick and his fellow Brazilian 2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup winner Schumacher completed the victory after a Nikola Rnic consolation.

Decisive games
On Friday Interviú face Hapoel and Benfica encounter Gorica, while the second berth in the final four will be filled in Russia. Aiming to join compatriots MFK Dinamo Moskva in the showpiece, holders MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg need only a home draw against FC Shakhtar Donetsk to clinch Group A and if Luparense Calcio A5 overcome Slov-Matic Fofo Bratislava in the earlier game, the Ukrainian side will require a two-goal win to pip the hosts.



Courtesy: UEFA.com


Ekaterinburg to defend title in finals

Friday 14 November 2008

UEFA Futsal Cup holders MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg will defend their title in the final four in April after a 4-3 win against FC Shakhtar Donetsk 4-3 to top Elite round Group A on home ground in Russia.

Holders through
Once Luparense Cálcio A5 had beaten Slov-Mativ Fofo Bratislava 4-2 in the earlier game, Shakhtar knew they had to win by two goals to prevent Ekaterinburg joining compatriots MFK Dinamo Moskva in the finals. However Viz-Sinara were three up at the break with two Dmitri Prudnikov strikes sandwiching a Sergey Abramov effort. Romário goals on 26 and 30 minutes reduced arrears but Konstantin Timoshchenkov ensured an Ekaterinburg win despite Ramis Mansurov's consolation.

Decisive weekend
Ekaterinburg and Dinamo will discover their fellow finalists over the weekend, with last season's fourth-placed side Kairat Almaty needing a point on Saturday against Group B hosts Action 21 Charleroi to pip the 2005 winners in Belgium. The following day two-time champions Interviú Madrid must defeat SL Benfica in Group D to prevent the Portuguese side, who they beat in the 2004 final and 2006 second qualifying round, topping the pool in their stead.

Double figures
In Friday's games in that group Interviú beat Israel's Hapoel Ironi Rishon Lezion 10-1 after Jordi Torras's third-minute opener was added to by two quickfire Gabriel goals. Yaniv David pulled one back only for Torras and Marquinho to give the Spanish side a 5-1 half-time lead. Marquinho struck again just past the interval, quickly followed by his fellow Brazilian FIFA Futsal World Cup-winner Betão. Marquinho completed his hat-trick and Torras did likewise before Borja took Interviú to double figures.

Benfica top
Benfica needed a win against Serbian side KMF Ekonomac Kragujevac better than 7-1 to end go into Sunday's decider ahead of Interviú; in the end the scoreline was 8-1. Kosta Marković put Ekonomac ahead on eight minutes but Arnaldo equalised and Pedrinho put Benfica ahead. Paulo César and Arnaldo made it 4-1 at half-time and after the break Pedro Costa scored twice and further goals by Ricardinho and Pedrinho ensured Benfica edged to the top.





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