Nielsen sparks Skövde elation

A last-minute Oskar Nielsen goal sent Skövde AIK through from the UEFA Futsal Cup Preliminary round for the second time in two entries and completed the Main round lineup for next month.

Comeback
Staging Group E in Sweden, Skövde trailed MNK Kaskada Gračanica prior to their deciding fixture and things began well for the champions of Bosnia-Herzegovina when Muamer Oručević put them ahead in the second minute. The score remained the same until the 31st minute when Johny David levelled matters, but Skövde still needed another goal and it arrived in the nick of time from Nielsen. Skövde now go to the Czech Republic for Main round Group 6 where KMF Marbo Beograd, hosts FK Era-Pack Chudrim and Ilves FS Tampere of Finland await.

Municipium celebrations
The other mini-tournament completed tonight, Group B, had already produced its qualifier yesterday, and Montenegrin debutants KMF Municipium Casino Pljevlja celebrated their status with a 3-0 win against KS Ali Demi Tirana. French hosts Issy Futsal finished second as they overcame AGBU Ararat Nicosia. Also through from the Preliminary round before today were Israel's Hapoel Ironi Rishon Lezion, FC Camelot Chisinau of Moldova, Saturday's other qualifiers KMN Puntar from Slovenia and Politekhnik Yerevan, among whose opponents will be 2004 runners-up SL Benfica.

Elite round
The top two after the Main round will go into the Elite round draw on 18 September. Holders MFK Dinamo Moskva, their Russian rivals MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg, Spanish champions ElPozo Murcia FS and Kairat Almaty are seeded straight into that stage from 13-21 October with the group winners progressing to April's final four; the hosts are to be picked from among their number to follow in the footsteps of 2007 venue Murcia.