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The terrific season by the World Cup Champions makes them the leaders of the Overall Beach Soccer European Ranking
This 2011 was undeniably the golden year for the Russian Beach Soccer Team. Their awesome performance merited them not only their first FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, but also the Euro Beach Soccer League 2011 and the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup Dubai 2011, having, besides, their Captain Ilya Leonov and their goalkeeper Andrei Bukhlistkiy awarded as MVP and Best Goalkeeper in Ravenna. And, as expected, these amazing figures turned into a tasty reward in both the 2011 season and Overall rankings, coping the peak in both of them.
After collecting such a huge amount of points during the year, it was surprise to no one that Likhachev’s side would establish themselves at the top of the 2011 ranking, which takes into consideration the Euro Beach Soccer League results as well as the performances in the BSWW Mundialito (Portimao), the BSWW Nations Cup (Linz), the BSWW Miami Cup, the BSWW Copa Lagos and the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup Dubai. But, they went even beyond that, as, with 450 points in just one year, they overtook Portugal as the leaders of the general ranking, sending Madjer and co. to the second step of the ladder.
On their side, Switzerland kept climbing positions, and after getting the 2011 second place, the Swiss jump into the 3rd position of the overall ranking, mainly thanks their great performances in the Euro Beach Soccer League and the Intercontinental Cup in Dubai.
Precisely on the opposite way, Spain loses another position in the Overall chart, standing now in the 4th place after this 2011 was not that sweet for Alonso’s lads. With only one big victory, the one achieved in Bern in the first stage of the Euro Beach Soccer League, La Roja ended this year as the sixth best team in the old continent, so the number of points they collected was quite scarce…
Significant jump by Romania and Israel
In turn, the highlighted cliffhanger of the season is Romania. Their brilliant Euro Beach Soccer League performances, even making it to semifinals in the Superfinal in Moscow, granted them the points to finish the year in the 4th position, and jump four slots in the overall ranking to place themselves in the 6th position of the general chart. Although on a lower scale, Israel were the ones making the biggest leap in the chart, as they climbed from the 23rd to the 15th position of the ranking, mainly thanks to their EBSL – Division B triumph in Bern, and their third place in the Promotion Final.
To see the complete charts for both the 2011 season and the Overall ranking, please visit our facebook page (www.facebook.com/BeachSoccerWorldwide).
