Sporting in scorching form

Sporting Clube de Portugal and mini-tournament hosts Clearex Chorzów made winning starts to the UEFA Futsal Cup Main round today as the first of the six groups kicked off in Poland.

Chorzów win
Chorzów and KMF Alfa Parf Skopje had the honour of kicking-off the newly-introduced round in Group 3, and the home side struck in the 17th minute through a quick shot from Andrzej Szlapa. They kept up the pressure and Bartlomiej Plaza and Krzysztof Marzec added to the scoreline early in the second half. Zoran Leveski pulled one back for the Macedonian champions late on to make it 3-1.

Sporting strike nine
Sporting, aiming to become the second Portuguese finalists in this competition after SL Benfica in 2003/04, secured an emphatic 9-1 victory against Armenian preliminary round winners FC Adana Yerevan. Davi opened the scoring in the ninth minute from distance and Evandro made it two before Deo struck in the space of 18 seconds. Armen Gyulambaryan pulled one back before the break but Zezeto, Evandro and Filho increased the lead in the second half before Wulf put the icing on the cake with two goals in quick succession.

Semi-finalists in action
The top two could clinch Elite round places on Tuesday as Chorzów play Adana and Sporting meet Skopje. Meanwhile two more pools get underway; in Group 1 last season's semi-finalists Kairat Almaty take on Slov-Matic Fofo Bratislava and hosts KMF Partizan Sarajevo face Italy's Arzignano Grifo C/5, while Group 5 opens in Budapest with another of 2005/06's last four, FC Shakhtar Donetsk, up against Toligma Chisinau and home side Futsal Club Gödöllö playing FC Raba of Riga.