Third stage of the European Beach Soccer League is over, and just one more to go before the Superfinal in Portugal. Today Switzerland won in an exciting match against Portugal, with a very tight match only decided in the last minute. 4 minutes prior to the end of the match, Portugal was leading the match by 4-5… but still time to change things. Swiss, with two fantastic goals scored by Ziegler and Rodrigues managed to alter the scoreboard 6-5, and that was it. With this result, Switzerland win the title with 3 wins in 3 matches, in their first participation of the season in Euro Beach Soccer League. Portugal close their participation with 2 wins in Italy and one in France. Both teams will be in the Superfinal.
On the battle for the third place of the tournament, host Italy won by 5-3 in a very physical match. Les Bleus are improving in every match, but still do not manage to finalize it with a victory. They played in Marseille last week and Italy this time, and count all their participations by loses. Zero points in six matches. This makes them mathematically last in Euro Beach Soccer League Division A, so they will need to go to Portugal to fight against B teams to maintain their Division A slot in 2011. Carotenuto was today the star of the match with two goals and plenty of spectacular actions. The Azzurri are now ranked 4th in the League but are assured to be in Portugal.
In Division B, Azerbaijan won the match against The Netherlands and booked a ticket for Portugal. In an easy match until the third period, Azeris had the match under control in all moment and Dutch had just no option at all. It was already 4-0 ten minutes after kick-off, and that was too difficult for the Orange, who will not be able to fight for the Semis in Superfinal as their colleagues in the FIFA World Cup.
This way, Azerbaijan joins now Israel and Hungary who already sealed their classification in the last events in Russia and France. Winner of next event will join, together with best second… And will battle with defeated France for a berth in next year’s Division A.
AWARDS:
FIFA FAIR PLAY AWARD: Leghissa (ITA)
BEST GOALKEEPER: Graça (POR)
TOP SCORER: Stankovic (7 goals – Switzerland)
MVP: Carotenuto (ITA)
EURO BEACH SOCCER LEAGUE – LIGNANO SABBIADORO CLASSIFICATION:
1st: Switzerland – 9 points
2nd: Portugal – 6 points
3rd: Italy – 3 points
4th: France – 0 points
