Group A
After yesterday’s defeat by Mostar, Zagreb played in their usual manner today, producing a convincing win. The Zagreb team notched a convincing 15:2 win against Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Krešimir Tadić and Nikola Perković both scored one goal, Ivan Piplica and Josip Grubeša scored two, while Zagreb captain Saša Ledinščak, Ivan Matan and Dario Markić scored three goals each.
Tvrtko Pajalić, who played most of the match without his lens, described the match:
‘The Dutch are playing tournament futsal, and some serious first league teams are playing on this tournament. What happened yesterday against Mostar must not happen again. We are a serious team and we have proven that with this result.’
The match between the University of Mostar and the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences ended 8:2 in favor of the Lithuanians.
The Lithuanians are now first in their group; their play is thoughtful and calm. When asked about tomorrow’s match against the hosts, player Remigijus Semenas said:
‘We are getting better day by day. Now we have to think about today’s match, get some sleep and get ready to face Zagreb tomorrow.’
Group B
In the second round of Group B, the duel between VERN’ University of Applied Sciences and the University of Maribor ended in a 1:1 draw. VERN’ thus advanced to the round of 16 of the tournament. The University of Malaga were the only ones to grab a win in the second round, defeating the Polish team with the record-high score 7:0. VERN’ had a hard time against the Slovenians who showed resistance and managed to produce a draw. Željko Petrović scored for VERN’ (11’), while Jan Sredenšak equalized for the Slovenians (25’).
The situation was different in the match between Malaga and the Polish. The Spaniards took the lead in the 9th minute and won the match by a 9-goal margin. Currently they are the best team in Group B, with a total of 6 points. VERN’ is currently second, while the Slovenians have one point. The Polish team lost all chances for the round of 16 as they still have no points on their tally.
Group C
The University of Ostrava won against University North with 7:1 in the second round of Group C. Although the score does not show it, both sides had plenty of chances, and North team will surely regret their missed opportunities. Ostrava was the better team in the first half, creating a deserved 2-0 lead; their captain scored twice.
After conceding the goals, the Croatian team tried to impose their game, creating opportunities in front of the Czech goal, but the shots went wide. University North returned from the break relaxed, as was noticeable in their style of play. They built they play around Marko Hrušak, who was in a good mood. North created several chances, but they couldn’t trick the Czech goalkeeper, whose team started to show signs of nervousness. Ostrava captain David Polašek, who is also team captain, confirmed this after the match.
‘After yesterday’s defeat, were under a lot of pressure today because we had to win in order to stay in the game for the next phase of the competition. The opposing team created a series of opportunities in the second half which created some anxiety in our lines. Luckily, we were able to stay calm and win the game.’
The match was decided by Dominik Panek in the second half, as his two goals destroyed the already psychologically exhausted North, whose goalkeeper had to retrieve the ball from his net three more times by the end of the match. University North was managed to squeeze in a consolation goal – Mateo Sakač was the scorer.
We were well prepared tactically for today’s match and this brought us the win. Tomorrow we have a very difficult match against the Portuguese and we will give our best to win and qualify to the next round,’ said Ostrava coach.
Despite his team’s defeat, the coach of University North team was happy with what he had seen:
‘Although we were defeated, we have shown that we have great potential which we will, I hope, unleash in the future.’
In the next round, the Technical University of Ostrava team will meet with the Portuguese University of Minho, while University North will try to achieve their first win against the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.
Group D
The Hall of Sports 2 hosted the matches of the second round of Group D of the men’s futsal competition at the European Universities Games Zagreb-Rijeka 206. The University of Coimbra and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology played the first match.
The Portuguese team convincingly won 4:0. The nets were steady in the first half, but the Norwegian team had better chances, hitting the post in the 17th minute. One of the Norwegian players even had a one-on-one against the opposing goalkeeper, but Coimbra keeper deflected his shot.
The situation in the second half was completely different as the Portuguese scored two after thirty minutes of play, deciding the outcome of the match. The first goal of the game was scored by Pedro Daniel Mendes Carvalho while the second was scored by Júlio Rafael Ribeiro Ferreira. After conceding two, the Norwegians opened up, only to be additionally punished by the Portuguese, who hit their opponents’ net two more times. Diogo Filipe Correia Simões scored the third, and Júlio Rafael Ribeiro Ferreira scored his second in the game for the final result of 4:0.
The other match of Group D was played between the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne and the University of Belgrade. The Serbian team emerged as winners, securing a 9:0 win. It was a one-sided match for Belgrade from the very beginning and Paris had their hands full defending their goal. They lasted only seven minutes as Lazar Simić opened the scoring in the 7th minute. The Serbs drove their opponents crazy with their fast, precise passes, scoring three more by half time; Nikola Matijević, Nikola Vučić and Velimir Ratković were the scorers.
Belgrade continued with their impressive performance in the second half. Strahinja Manić, Velimir Ratković, Filip Manić and Nikola Vučić put their names on the scoresheet; all scored in the period between the 24th and the 29th minute of the game. The French came closest to scoring in the 34th, when they hit the crossbar, and Belgrade added one more to their tally for good measure; Petrov Strahinja scored in the 36th minute. Belgrade coach Vladimir Vuletić, whose team is comprised form students of various faculties of the University of Belgrade, expressed his satisfaction their performance:
‘Our team is slowly rising and synchronizing, a real derby awaits us in the next round when we will face the Portuguese.’
In the next round of Group D, the University of Belgrade will play against the University of Coimbra and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology will play against the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne.
Group E
The second day of the futsal competition and we already know which team will not be qualifying to the next phase. The University of Munster lost their second match at the tournament, as well as any chances for advancing to the next round. Aydin Istanbul University were better, winning 4:1.
Split and Istanbul will clash tomorrow in what will be a decisive match determining the winner of Group E. Judging by the results of last year’s competition in Poznan, the team from Turkey will have a slight advantage: they finished fourth last year, while Split ended the tournament eighth.
Group F
The second round of Group F brought us an exciting game between the Siberian Federal University and the Armenian State University of Economics in which both teams played attractive futsal. The match between the Russians and Armenians ended in a Russian 5:1 victory.
The Armenian team started the game better, putting themselves in the front in the 4th minute as Andranik Karapetyan opened the scoring. Unfortunately for the Armenians, their lead did not last for long: Valerii Zykov and Evgenii Goncharov both scored in the 8th minute and turned the match around.
It was a firm game with plenty of impressive moves, and Vitalii Verentnov scored two beautiful goals later on, confirming the Russian victory. It should be noted that the Armenian goal keeper, despite conceding 5 goals, played on a high level, just like his colleague from the other side of the field Arsenii Koviazin, who commented the match:
“Today’s match was very demanding because the Armenians are a very good team who play firm football. Luckily for us, we managed to impose our game and produced a convincing win.”
Results
