Dinamo first through to UEFA Futsal Cup finals
Thursday, November 21, 2013
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MFK Dinamo qualified for April's UEFA Futsal Cup finals thanks to their second straight elite round victory on a day when holders Kairat Almaty opened their campaign with a 9-0 win.
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Runners-up last season, MFK Dinamo have become the first team to qualify for the UEFA Futsal Cup finals in late April following their second victory in as many elite round matches, while Kairat Almaty started their title defence with a 9-0 win against MFK VitEn Vitebsk.
Cirilo and Pula were among those to find the net as Dinamo, who on Wednesday beat Slov-Matic Bratislava 7-1, scored five without reply against KMF Ekonomac Kragujevac. Bratislava overcame point-less FC Litija 4-3 in the other Group B game – Gabriel Bartošek completed his treble with 23 seconds left to clinch it for the Slovakian selection – meaning leaders Dinamo cannot be overtaken by either of the two teams immediately below them due to their superior head-to-head record.
Two of the players on target during Kairat's 4-3 triumph over Dinamo in the 2013 showpiece, Leo Santana and Fumasa, each scored twice in a resounding Group C success that also featured a hat-trick from Leo. "We defeated a very good team," said Kairat coach Cacau of Vitebsk.
In the same section, Kairat's domestic rivals, Tulpar Karagandy, ran out 8-3 winners against KMF Tango Sarajevo, one of only two teams along with Vitebsk to progress from the preliminary round. Chingiz Yesenamanov struck three times for the Kazakh side, who squandered the lead on as many occasions in the first half before pulling away from their Bosnian opponents.
Like Dinamo, FC Barcelona also have six points. The 2012 winners overwhelmed City'US Târgu Mureş 10-1 thanks in part to a four-goal display from Wilde and will progress from Group A if they avoid defeat against the only side who can finish above them, FK EP Chrudim, in their last fixture. Czech mini-tournament hosts Chrudim lost 3-2 to Lokomotiv Kharkov. Chrudim's Dentinho struck the woodwork from the second penalty mark with the score 1-1.
In Almada, Araz Naxçivan (6-3) and Group D hosts Sporting Clube de Portugal (6-1) were too strong for CF Eindhoven and Győri ETO FC respectively in their first outings. Déo was the star of the show for Sporting, setting up the first three goals and then rounding off the scoring late on.
Groups C and D continue on Friday and conclude on Sunday. Groups A and B draw to a close on Saturday.
