Big surprises and tight wins set the tone

Day two at the Euro Beach Soccer League Catania 2014 had Switzerland and Italy getting on top alone, and Netherlands and Germany beating Russia and Poland

Clockwork Germany upsets Poland again

A laudable beach soccer defense-and-offense display had Germany inflicting Poland a new painful, and rather surprising, defeat in the second day of the Euro Beach Soccer League Catania 2014. The German National Team cemented their win with effective efforts at both ends: Penke was again today a wall under the posts, denying all the Polish attempts, and the German attack stung when they had the chance to progressively increase their advantage. Saganowski’s side seemed helpless as the Mannschaft cruised to the points, and are left with no units at the bottom of the table in group B. 

Rearguards set the tone during a first period in which both contenders, after having lost their opening matches yesterday, wanted to minimize the options of being punished again. But seconds before the first break, Thurk swept the German side ahead, and had the Polish needing to fight their way back to the game once again. A new hit by Weirauch would made this mission even more difficult.

Getting into the third period two goals down against a clockwork effective Deutschland was already a nightmare for Poland, and things would get much worse in this last frame. Weirauch netted his second, followed by Biermann’s will to note his name in the scorer’s chart for the 0-4. Poland were faced to an impossible-to-climb wall, and minutes went by with no sign of Polish recovery. The final whistle meant a new defeat for Saganowski’s side, who will need to make the most of their match against Switzerland tomorrow, and the EBSL stage they are hosting in Sopot next week, to merit a ticket to the Superfinal.

Goals: 0-1: Thurk, min. 0 (1); 0-2: Weirauch, min. 6 (2); 0-3: Weirauch, min. 7 (3); 0-4: Biermann, min. 6 (3);

One goal gives Switzerland second win in fierce battle

Switzerland and Belarus brought on a true combat on the sand today, with eleven goals and a fierce fight for the points, at the second day of the Euro Beach Soccer League Catania 2014. The Alpine, much more experienced in the continental top-flight division finally clinched the win, but Belarus faced them to a terribly difficult time…

Gilberto’s side stated their candidacy for the points surprising the Swiss just seconds after kick off with the 1-0 by Savich. Stankovic, who plays on known sand (he played for Catania Beach Soccer in the Serie A Enel Beach Soccer League) raised his arm and let his companions know that he was solving that contingency.  Grabbing a ball right in front of the Belarusian box, when the Swiss bomber lifted it, many already knew which the Brazuca’s final destination was: Belarus’ back of the net. 1-1, only two minutes into the game. But there was much more to witness in a busy first period that saw Leu turning the score around and Bryshtsel responding before the hooter to level things back.

Second leg had one name clearly outstanding over the rest: Noel Ott. The Swiss youngest talent netted an amazing hat-trick in just three minutes to pull his side from 2-3 down and push it to 5-3 up.

Belarus was not going to give up, though, and Bryshtsel and Savich, rounding their doubles, materialized the Belarussian resistance to the Swiss eventual dominance, bringing some breathtaking last minutes of the game. With everything at stake for two sides that had already bagged three points, Stankovic sealed the win for his side, with a new thundering strike of his privileged left foot for the final 6-5. 

Goals: 0-1: Savich, min. 11 (3); 1-1: Stankovic, min. 9 (1); 2-1: Leu, min. 4 (1); 2-2: Bryshtsel, min. 1 (1); 2-3: Kanstantsinau, min. 9 (2); 3-3: Ott, min. 3 (2); 4-3: Ott, min. 1 (2); 5-3: Ott, min. 1 (2); 5-4: Bryshtsel, min. 7 (3); 5-5: Savich, min. 4 (3); 6-5: Stankovic, min. 3 (3); 

Netherlands lead historical win over Russia

Netherlands broke the bank in the second day of the Euro Beach Soccer League regular phase stage held in Catania, after beating defending european and world champions Russia to mix things up in group A. Despite being down on the score right in the first minute of the game, the Orange never gave up believing, and turned the scored around on two occasions to bag much more than three points.

When Shaykov netted the 1-0 just one minute after kick-off, it seemed that Netherlands were going to be given a tough afternoon in Catania. A wonderful free-kick missile by Van Gessel made things look better for Kokmeijer’s side, and gave his side a moral boost that would lead them to combat, on equal terms, the beach soccer monster Russia is. Van Dieren’s 1-2 in the last stage of first period let everyone know that Holland’s determination was for real.

Russia used second period to try and get things under control again, balancing the score on their favour, and midway third frame got ahead thanks to Eremeev’s 3-2. Widening that distance to avoid any late fright was basically their plan, but not Netherland’s… Van Dieren, with a wonderful mid-range shot equalized the score once again, and Ax, amid the Russian desperate search for the decider, fired a wonderful overhead kick home for the final 3-4.  Likhachev’s side tried hard in the remaining time, but the Orange defense blocked all ways to their nets, thus clinching a victory to be remembered for long…

Goals: 1-0: Shaykov, min. 10 (1); 1-1: Van Gessel, min. 6 (1); 1-2: Van Dieren, min. 2 (1); 2-2: Makarov, min. 6 (2); 3-2: Eremeev, min. 6 (3); 3-3: Van Dieren, min. 3 (3); 3-4: Ax, min. 2 (3);

Italy uses narrow win to get on top of group

Italy earned the top of Group A today after a tight victory over France. After opening the score, and reacting quickly to the French equalizer, the Italian’s controlled the tempo and sealed the points that give them very significant chances of getting into the EBSL Superfinal. Tomorrow,  the hosts will take on Russia in the decider of this regular phase stage. Raising the first cup of the season, in front of their own crowd, and against the defending European and World kings, is not a minor objective…

Frainetti, with his first goal, embodied the ambition and fighting attitude this Italy has, and helped his team command the game for a significant part of the first stage, but Fayos replied with a header to raise France’s voice. The tie remained for most of the second period, until Stefano Spada rocketed home a coast-to-coast ball from his own box to sweep the Azzurri ahead once again. 

Esposito’s side wanted to get hold of the control of the game in the last leg, and Zurlo widened the distance with the 1-3, wanting to give his side, and his crowd, a more relaxed last stage of the game. But Samoun managed to pull one back for Les Bleus, what lead the game into an absolute thriller for the remaining minutes. The Azzurri, though, perfectly knew how to sit back and protect their goal so that the French reaction went no further. With the final whistle, the hosts conquer their sixth points to top group A, followed by Netherlands and Russia, with three points. France, with no points so far, have no chances to win the stage tomorrow. 

Goals: 0-1: Frainetti, min. 5 (1); 1-1: Fayos, min. 1 (1); 1-2: Spada, min. 2 (2); 1-3: Zurlo, min. 7 (3); 2-3: Samoun, min. 3 (3);

EURO BEACH SOCCER LEAGUE – CATANIA 2014

Match results
14:45 – Poland 0-4 Germany
16:00 – Switzerland 6-5 Belarus   
17:15 – Russia vs Netherlands
18:30 – France vs Italy

Matches for tomorrow
Sun 22.06.14   
14:45 – Belarus vs Germany
16:00 – Switzerland vs Poland   
17:15 – Netherlands vs France
18:30 – Russia vs Italy

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