Belarus’ futsal champion, Minsk Stolitsa, finishes opening round of UEFA Futsal Cup on high note

By Yegor Glebov

Belarus’ futsal champion, Minsk Stolitsa, finishes opening round of UEFA Futsal Cup on high note

In the final stage of the UEFA Futsal Cup (which rivals the Champions League in importance) in Austrian Schwaz, Minskers beat the hosts of the tournament (Schwaz club) in Group E — 12:3. They will now continue fighting for the prestigious trophy, heading for the Czech Republic in late September to face Era-Pak Chrudium, as well as French Sporting and Macedonian Zelezarec.

Vladimir Levus’ trainees hope to enter the next stage, joining other group leaders to form the final round of 16 clubs (4 per group). At present, 24 teams are in four groups (six squads in each), with matches held from September 30th to October 5th. The next, elite, round will see the two best teams from each group meet such European legends as Spanish Barcelona (current holder of the UEFA Cup), Portuguese Sporting, Kazakh Kairat and Azerbaijani Araz.

In the elite round, matches are to be played between November 18th and 23rd, with winners qualifying for the Final Four, scheduled for late April 2015.