January 22, Minsk / Corr. BELTA/. The Armenian national team sensationally defeated the Ukrainians in the first round of the 13th European Futsal Championship, BELTA correspondent reports.
In Kaunas, in the opening match of Group B, the debutants of the final stage, the Armenians lost 0:1, but then managed to turn the tide of the game and, thanks to two accurate shots from Mihran Dermenjyan, snatched victory from the fourth team of the previous European Championship. Later, the Lithuanians will compete with the Czechs.
The first matches of the final stage took place the day before in Riga. In the opening match of preliminary group A, the teams of France and Croatia did not reveal a winner – a 2:2 draw, and the Latvian team won a major victory over the Georgians – 4:0.
Two quartets are based in Ljubljana. On Friday, January 23, in preliminary group C, the Belarusian team will meet with the Belgian team. Alexander Chernik’s team will also play against Spain (January 26) and Slovenia (January 29). In Quartet D, the first round matches will take place on January 24: Poland – Hungary, Portugal – Italy. The top two teams from each group will advance to the playoffs. The quarter-finals will take place on January 31 and February 1, the semi-finals are scheduled for February 4, the bronze medal match and the championship match will be held on February 7 in the Slovenian capital.
For the second time in its history, the Belarusian team will compete among the best squads of the Old World. In 2010, at the European Championships in Hungary, Valery Dosko’s team failed to qualify from the group, losing out to future champion Spain and silver medalist Portugal.
Four years ago, in the Netherlands, the Portuguese team won their second gold of the continental championship, defeating the Russians in the decisive match with a score of 4:2. In the game for bronze medals, the Spaniards beat the Ukrainian team – 4:1. The Spanish national team became the European champion seven times, Italy and Portugal won two titles each, and Russia won one. -0-
