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Germany wins first Euro Beach Soccer League title; Greece leaves Moscow with zero points.
First game of the day today between Germany and Greece, corresponding to Division B in Euro Beach Soccer League. The match was really an unimportant game, as Israel, with 2 victories in the first 2 days, had already secured the berth for the Superfinal in Portugal. Greece started the match leading the way, and they were already winning 4-2 at the end of the first period. But soon M. Stolla helped his teammates turn the match around scoring his first hat trick of the tournament. 4-4 at the end of the second third and all yet to be decided. Germans managed to secure the victory with a 3-1 in this last period, finishing the match 7-5. Israel won group B with 6 points, second became Germany with 3 and Greece didn’t manage to win any match so ended up with no points.
In the inaugural match of Division B, Romania won Poland by a tight 8-6. It was a spectacular match with plenty of beach soccer skills: bicycle kicks, acrobatic shots… Romanians won their first three points in Division A, ending the Moscow event with three points, just over Poland, which leaves Russia with 3 defeats. Polakowski’s players will need to improve to be part of the Superfinal… one more chance to go.
The match was very tight, with plenty of chances for both teams. But it was only in the last 5 minutes when Romania managed to control the goal advantage that would lead to the final victory. Romanians started controlling the match and soon the scoreboard reflected a deserved momentary victory. But in the second period Poland managed to tie the match and this way we went to the last and definitive period. Romania knew how to play in the final moments and maintained the match under control once they took the lead, which never was lost again.
The final game of the event faced up the two strongest teams of this European League first event. Russia and Italy arrived to day three with 2 victories each (despite the squadra azzurri only had 5 points as Friday’s victory was in extra time), so today’s clash was definitive to determine the event winner. In a fully packed stadium, hosts did not deceived and secured the victory in tight match by 4-3. It was a stunning match, with lots of shots on goal, where both goalkeepers played key roles… but Russia’s Bukhlitskiy was specially inspired today, helping his win to win the tournament with 2 impossible saves. The match had two equal parts, both of them won by 2-1 for hosts except one last minute goal scored by Carotenuto which made Italian hope lean out… But there was no time for more and Russia was crowned ad Euro Beach Soccer League Moscow event champions.
Standings Division A:
Champion: Russia, 9 points
Runner ups: Italy, 5 points
Third: Romania: 3 points
Fourth: Poland: 0 points
Standings Division B:
Champion: Israel, 6 points
Runner up: Germany, 3 points
Third: Greece, 0 points
Individual awards:
MVP: Pasquali (ITA)
Top Scorer: Pasquali (ITA) & Saganowsky (POL) – 8 goals
FAIR PLAY award: team Russia
Best Goalkeeper: Bukhlitskiy (RUS)
Results:
Friday, May 28th:
Greece 5 vs. 9 Israel (Division B)
Italy 7vs. 6 (a.e.t.) Poland (Division A)
Romania 3 vs. 9 Russia (Division A)
Saturday, May 29th:
Germany 3 vs. 6 Israel (Division B)
Italy 8 vs. 7 Romania (Division A)
Russia vs. Poland (Division A)
Sunday, May 30th:
Greece 5 vs. 7 Germany (Division B)
Poland 6 vs. 8 Romania (Division A)
Russia 4 vs. 3 Italy (Division A)
European Beach Soccer League
As it was already done last year, the League is divided in two divisions: Division A (whose participants play in 2 of the 4 events of European League Regular Phase), which includes top 8 teams in Europe, and division B, with the ones ranked from 9th on. 4 of Division A teams are participating in this event in Moscow: Italy, Poland, Romania and Russia. They will all play against each other in a Round Robin format, two matches a day during three days. Each winning team will get 3 points for the League (2 if the win is in overtime or penalty shootout) and 0 if they are defeated. The team with more points will win the event in Moscow but, the team with more points after the 4 events of the League will automatically qualify to the Superfinal in Portugal (26-29 August). Only 6 of the 8 teams of Division A will make it through to the Superfinal, while 8th team will need to battle against Division B winners to maintain his category.
In Division B, the winner of each tournament plus the best second team will qualify to the Superfinal (each team participates in just one event of the Regular Phase), and only the winner in Portugal will have the honor to raise category in the 2011 League and became a Division A team, as Romania did last year.
Euro Beach Soccer League calendar:
Euro Beach Soccer League stage 1 – Moscow, Russia: May 28-30
Euro Beach Soccer League stage 2 – Marseille, France: June 25-27
Euro Beach Soccer League stage 3 – Lignano, Italy: July 2-4
Euro Beach Soccer League stage 4 – Castellon, Spain: July 30-August 1
Euro Beach Soccer League Superfinal – Portugal: August 26-29
