Courtesy: UEFA.com


Five teams seal elite round spots

FK Nikars Riga, Iberia Star Tbilisi, KMF Ekonomac Kragujevac, MFK Dinamo Moskva and MNK Split are the first five teams to go through to the UEFA Futsal Cup elite round.

Thursday 6 September 2012

FK Nikars Riga, Iberia Star Tbilisi, KMF Ekonomac Kragujevac, MFK Dinamo Moskva and MNK Split are the first seven teams through to the elite round from the UEFA Futsal Cup main round.

Serbia's Ekonomac flexed their goalscoring muscles for a second consecutive match to consign KMF Zelezarec Skopje to an 8-1 loss and seal their own progress from Group 2 alongside Nikars; the Latvian qualifiers came from behind to defeat Vegakameratene 2-1.

Georgian outfit Iberia Star, meanwhile, qualified from Group 4 thanks to a 3-1 victory over Athina '90 Athens. Second-placed FC Litija must wait to take their place, however, after Paris Sporting Club's Betinho struck a hat-trick in the sides' compelling 3-3 draw.

Akademia FC Pniewy's withdrawal reduced Group 5 to a three-game round robin and opened the door for Russia's Dinamo Moskva, who dispatched Lidselmash Lida 5-1. MNK Split of Croatia follow them into the elite round having beaten Lidselmash 24 hours earlier. The 2010 semi-finalists Luparense C/5 kicked off Group 1, meanwhile, seeing off FC Grand Pro Varna 2-0, before AC Omnia were held to a 3-3 draw by Slov-Matic Bratislava.

Meanwhile in Group 6, Group 6 pacesetters Győri ETO FC from Hungary overcame EID Futsal 3-0. Azerbaijani team Araz Naxçivan, 2010 bronze medallists, recovered a 3-1 deficit to beat Club Futsal Eindhoven 4-3 in the same section but their opening win against EID is subject to a disciplinary case.

The main round action continues on Friday in Groups 1 and 3, where two from FK EP Chrudim, Energy Lviv, City'US Târgu Mureş and KMF Leotar Trebinje will advance to the elite round. All 12 teams that qualify will accompany the four top seeds – holders FC Barcelona, 2010 winners SL Benfica, Murcia FS and Kairat Almaty – into the elite round draw. That phase of the competition, running from 9 to 14 October, will decide April's four finalists.




Courtesy: UEFA.com


Energy and Chrudim confirm progress

Energy Lviv and FK EP Chrudim became the latest teams to earn UEFA Futsal Cup elite round places on Friday and AC Omnia and Luparense C/5 are well placed to join them.

Friday 7 September 2012

by John Leonidou & Ondrej Zlamal

Energy Lviv and FK EP Chrudim became the latest sides to book their place in the UEFA Futsal Cup elite round on a night when AC Omonia and Luparense C/5 tightened their grip on Group 1.

Energy are definitely in the 13 September elite round draw after Maxym Pavlenko struck a hat-trick in a 6-2 defeat of point-less KMF Leotar Trebinje to lift them to the summit. They qualify by virtue of a superior head-to-head goal difference, as do Chrudim, despite losing 5-4 against City'US Târgu Mureş, who finish third.

Meanwhile, Group 1 is starting to take shape after Omonia posted a 5-3 success against FC Grand Pro Varna to go top of the standings. Luparense remain hot on their heels on level points after being held to a goalless draw by third-placed Slov-Matic Bratislava.

The main round action continues on Saturday as Groups 2, 4, 5 and 6 conclude. The 12 qualifiers will join the top four seeds – holders FC Barcelona, 2010 winners SL Benfica, Murcia FS and Kairat Almaty – in the elite round draw. That phase of the competition, running from 9 to 14 October, will decide April's four finalists.




Courtesy: UEFA.com


Araz, Győr, Litija into elite round

There are only two elite round berths left to be filled after Araz Naxçivan, Győri ETO FC and FC Litija booked their progress as four more main round groups concluded on Saturday.

Saturday 8 September 2012

Araz Naxçivan, Győri ETO FC and FC Litija all secured their place in the UEFA Futsal Cup elite round on Saturday.

In Group 4, Iberia Star Tbilisi had booked their progress on Thursday, but still had top spot to play for. Their opponents, though, Litija, had their own sights set on the summit and duly delivered courtesy of a 2-1 success against the Georgian outfit. That meant Paris Sporting Club's 7-1 victory against Athina '90 Athens earlier in the day was not enough to break into the top two.

Araz's opening 2-1 win against EID Futsal on Wednesday was reversed to a 5-0 forfeit defeat, but it ultimately mattered not. The Azerbaijan side finished with a 5-5 against Győri ETO FC, which proved to be enough for both sides to progess. That meant disappointment for Club Futsal Eindhoven, who concluded with a 6-3 win at EID but nevertheless finished in third place.

In Group 2, both KMF Ekonomac Kragujevac and FK Nikars Riga had already secured their progress with a match to spare. They met each other in their final fixture, with Ekonomac prevailing 4-3 to top the section with a perfect record. In the other game in the group, Vegakameratene won 4-2 against KMF Zelezarec Skopje to get off the mark and finish third.

The two qualifiers from Group 5 had also been decided prior to Saturday, with MFK Dinamo Moskva finishing at the summit thanks to an 11-1 triumph over MNK Split, who go through to the elite round as runners-up.

The main round ends on Sunday, with both Group 1 qualifying berths still up for grabs.




Courtesy: UEFA.com


Luparense, Slov-Matic book elite round places

The final two berths in Thursday's elite round draw have now been taken after Luparense C/5 and Slov-Matic Bratislava finished first and second respectively in main round Group 1.

Sunday 9 September 2012

The lineup for Thursday's elite round draw in Nyon is now complete after Luparense C/5 claimed first place in main round Group 1 and Slov-Matic Bratislava took the runners-up spot after both won their final matches in Cyprus.

A tense round of games in the last group to be decided began with three teams hoping to go through, hosts AC Omonia starting the day on top of the pile as they targeted a first ever spot in the elite round. Slov-Matic have reached that stage for the last four years, in contrast, and, needing to win by two goals to advance, they extended their run with a 7-2 defeat of bottom side FC Grand Pro Varna.

Clearly desperate to prevail, the Slovakian side struck the woodwork three times in the first minute of play, before Martin Rejžek, Gabriel Bartošek, Peter Haľko and Ladislav Mikita built them a 4-0 lead after just over ten minutes. Haľko and Mikita later doubled their tallies to send Slov-Matic top temporarily.

That result increased the pressure on Luparense and Omonia in the later game, with only the victors assured of qualifying. As it was, 2010 semi-finalists Luparense prevailed after finally discovering form in front of goal, Merlim and Fabiano putting the Italian club 2-0 up before Roberto gave the home side hope. They could not register again, however, and goals from Giovanni Pedotti, Merlim and captain Humberto Honorio sealed the result.

"It was a very difficult game," commented Luparense coach Fulvio Colini afterwards. "Omonia were a very fast team playing in front of lots of noisy supporters. We needed to work hard. We finally woke up in the final game against Omonia, but we still need to work harder in the next round of the competition."

For Omonia, it was a disappointing end to a mini-tournament that had opened with a creditable 3-3 draw against Slov-Matic, Roberto scoring twice for the Cypriot side. They then followed up with a 5-3 defeat of Bulgarian contenders Varna, who kicked off with a 2-0 reverse at the hands of Luparense, for whom Pedotti and Pablo made the difference.

That match had highlighted Luparense's goalscoring difficulties, and they were subsequently confirmed in a goalless draw with Slov-Matic that nonetheless kept both teams in the running. Holding their nerve to win their last matches, the two hopefuls will now take their place in the draw along with the ten other sides that have qualified this week plus the four top seeds exempted up until now.

Elite round lineup
Draw: 13 September
Matches: 9-14 October

Top seeds: FC Barcelona (ESP, holders), SL Benfica (POR), Murcia FS (ESP), Kairat Almaty (KAZ)

Main round winners: Luparense C/5 (ITA, Group 1), KMF Ekonomac Kragujevac (SRB, 2), Energy Lviv (UKR, 3), FC Litija (SVN, 4), MFK Dinamo Moskva (RUS, 5), Győri ETO FC (HUN, 6)

Main round runners-up: Slov-Matic Bratislava (SVK, 1), FK Nikars Riga (LVA, 2), FK EP Chrudim (CZE, 3), Iberia Star Tbilisi (GEO, 4), MNK Split (CRO, 5), Araz Naxçivan (AZE, 6)

Draw procedure
Two of the elite round groups will contain one top seed, two main round winners and one runner-up. The other two two groups will contain one top seed, one main round winner and two runners-up. No team can meet a side they faced in the main round.

Four teams have been pre-designated as hosts as per the competition regulations and will be drawn from a separate pot with one going in each group, though without changing their seeding. The four host teams are:

Murcia FS (ESP)
KMF Ekonomac Kragujevac (SRB)
Iberia Star Tbilisi (GEO)
FC Litija (SVN)

The winners of each main round group advance through to the knockout finals in late April, with the hosts picked from among their number.




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