At the Euro Winners Cup 2017, the annual competition which sees the best teams, both male and female, from across Europe do battle to be crowned continental champions, with this year’s event including preliminary rounds for some additional berths in the main competition, making it the biggest Euro Winners Cup to date.
As per the competition format, this preliminary round will offer other teams who did not qualify via their national league to get one of the up to four available spots and participate in the competition proper. Here is the match reports of day one matches:
Group A: Artur Music 8-2 FC Valicecar
Four goals from Oleg Zborovksyi helped Artur Music to an 8-2 victory against FC Valicecar as the Ukrainian side tightened their grip on top spot.
Sandro Spaccarotella, Deiwerson Vieira, Anderson Dias and Egor Eremeev were also on target in a comforable outing that leaves Artur Music on the verge of progression.
ACD O Sotao also turned on the style as they beat Glomminge IF 11-1 with the help of five goals from Japan international Takasuke Goto.
After Flavio Carma and Bruno Vidinha got the ball rolling, Goto got the first of his haul as Glomminge struggled to deal with their Portuguese opponents.
Patrick Rydasp grabbed a consolation for the Swedes, who remain without a point.
Group B: BSC Lokomotiv 7-1 LSA Perwez
BSC Lokomotiv Moscow go into the final round of Euro Winners Cup group matches top of the table after proving a cut above LSA Perwez in a 7-1 victory.
Lokomotiv are in pole position to qualify for the last 16 in first place, sitting two points clear at the summit after Boris Nikonorov’s hat-trick helped the Russian side to a comfortable win.
Lukao scored twice along with Egor Shaikov and goalkeeper Maksim Chuzhkov with Victor Ageletti meeting a consolation for Perwez.
Defending champions Viareggio bounced back from their extra-time defeat to BSC Lokomotiv Moscow by outclassing CS Djoker Chisinau 14-3.
The Italians demonstrated their fearsome attacking talent as Gabriele Gori notched five times while Giacomo Valenti grabbed a hat-trick.
Viareggio were 11-0 up before Vitalie Budigai got Chisinau on the board, but their late flurry of goals mattered little in the context of the game.
Group C: FC Dinamo Batumi 5-2 Arman
FC Dinamo Batumi sit top of a tight Group C after edging past Arman of Kazakhstan 5-2 in the Euro Winners Cup on Tuesday.
Just one point separates top from bottom, with Batumi leading the way after Llorenc’s brace and further strikes from Carlos Cristian and Michele Di Palma.
Silesia BS St Neots also remain in with a chance of progression after they beat Lazio by the odd goal in nine.
Daro Dove opened the scoring and went on to grab two more but it was Michal Sobczak who hit the winner for the English champions three minutes from time.
Group D: Seferihisar Cittaslow 8-4 ACS West Deva
Belarus international Ihar Bryshtel struck 10 seconds from time to take Seferihisar Cittaslow to the verge of the last Euro Winners Cup last 16.
Bryshtel scored twice in a frantic second period that saw six of the game’s nine goals, with Shchertysia’s leveller four minutes from the end ultimately looking to have taken the game to extra time.
However, Bryshtel poked in a set-piece delivery late in the game to keep his side on maximum points ahead of their group finale on Wednesday. MFC Spartak of Bulgaria sit in second after Filip Filpov and Ivan Todorov helped them to an 8-4 win against ACS West Deva.
Ionut Florea was the main threat for West Deva, as he registered all four of his side’s goals, but Filipov and Martinov registered twice each, alongside a Horvat Pavel own-goal and strikes from Martin Velikov, Pavel Adamov and Kaloyan Tsekov to wrap up their first win.
Group E: Spartak 9-5 Betuws BS
Spartak kept alive their hopes of qualification to the next round of the Euro Winners Cup with a 9-5 win against Betuws BS.
The Russian team were beaten on penalties by Sporting CP on the opening day but dealt with business in normal time against Betuws, Edu Suarez wrapping up a hat-trick inside the first 14 minutes.
Matthijs van Gessel was at the double for Betuws but their spirited resistance failed to yield reward. Sporting were given a tough workout by RTU of Latvia en route to a 4-1 success as the home favourites picked up their second win of the competition.
Noel Ott and Heimanu Taiarui were on target for Sporting in the opening 12 minutes, only for Agnis Pupols to keep RTU in the contest by halving the deficit before the break.
A goal from Duarte Vivo and Ricardinho in the second and third period ended RTU’s resistance as Sporting bolstered their hopes of progression.
Group F: SC Braga 4-0 CD Bala Azul
CD Bala Azul’s impressive Euro Winners Cup campaign hit it’s first bump as they fell 4-0 to one of the tournament favourites SC Braga.
The Spanish side limited their Portuguese opponents early on, conceding just twice in the opening two periods, as Mauricinho and Be Martins set Braga on their way.
Jordan Santos scored within five second of the third period to effectively seal the points, with Mauricinho adding his second to complete the scoring.
Ibbenburener found their shooting boots against Winti Panthers as they eased to an 8-2 win. Beaten 11-4 by Braga on Monday, Ibbenburener wasted little time in making amends as Christian Biermann took his tally for the competition to seven with four more goals.
Fellow Germany international Sascha Weirauch grabbed a treble while Valon Beqiri was also on the scoresheet in a dominant display.
Group G: BSC Kristall 7-5 Cadiz CF Sotelo
BSC Kristall picked up their second win of the Euro Winners Cup with braces from Rodrigo and Artur Paporotnyi helping ensure a 7-5 win against Cadiz CF Sotelo.
The Russian team were already 5-0 up by the time Cadiz responded through Javier Torres and, in truth, the damage was already done.
Daniel Pajon grabbed a hat-trick in a goal-filled second period but the contributions of Rodrigo and Paporotnyi, along with further goals from Belito, Andrei Andreev and Datinha, proved enough.
CD Nacional gained a narrow 2-0 win over A.O Atlas in a close-fought contest.
An own-goal from Georgios Karakasis in the second frame was followed by Nuno Soares’ third-period strike as Nacional gained their first points of the competition.
Group H: CSKA 4-2 KP Lodz
CSKA moved top of Group H after seeing off KP Lodz 4-2 with the help of a brace from Rafinha.
The Brazilian and Sergei Stepliani sent CSKA into the final period with a 2-1 lead, with Semenov able to extend that advantage shortly after the restart.
Boguslaw Saganowski reduced the arrears with a smart finish from range but Rafinha settled any CSKA nerves with 30 seconds to play as they moved a point clear at the summit.
Goalkeeper Laszlo Szacsko was the surprise hero for Jaszfenyszaru GWP Cservy as they beat BSC Bate Borisov 3-2 in extra time.
Marian Maciuca opened the scoring for the Hungarian side early in the first period, only for Samsonov and Aksenov to turn the result on its head going into the final frame.
However, Szacsko equalised with 27 seconds of normal time remaining and then went on to settle the contest for his side, registering against his opposite number deep into extra time.
Group I: FC Delta 4-3 Falfala Kfar Qassem
FC Delta moved clear at the top of Group I as an extra-time winner from Oliveira de Sousa Gil ensured a 4-3 victory against Falfala Kfar Qassem.
Both sides claimed wins on the opening day and it looked as though Adam Sarsur, Ahmad Sarsur and Rageed Badir had ensured the points for Israeli side.
However, Gil’s second goal took the contest to extra time before the Brazilian struck again 15 seconds from time.
BSC Grembach Lodz got their first points on the board at the Euro Winners Cup with an 8-3 win over Grande Motte Pyramide BS.
Anthony Barbotti scored twice in the opening period but Grande Motte went in behind at the break and never managed to reel in their Polish opponents, hat-trick hero Witold Ziober adding two more to his tally in the second and third frames to seal a comprehensive win.