A narrow but assured win

Victory over Slovakia all but guaranteed Oleksandr Kosenko’s team a place in the elite round. Only the formalities remain.

A 2–1 defeat was far from the worst outcome for the hosts at Gopass Arena. There was trouble around the Slovak goal throughout and Ukraine hit the woodwork four times alone. Semenchenko rattled it in the 14th minute, Shoturma in the 20th, Cherniavskyi in the 27th and Semenchenko again in the 31st.

In the end Ukraine found the net twice. Just before half-time Sukhov picked out Mykytiuk with an excellent cross. In the 34th minute Abakshyn sent Semenchenko through to face Kevin Kollár. Slovakia captain Tomáš Drahovský got his side on the scoresheet with 50 seconds to go, by which time the game was gone.

Kyiv head west, Dnipro head east

1. 1L84 Torino v HIT
2. 2Athletic Futsal v Semey
3. ¼The winners of these ties will meet

HIT were drawn against Italy’s L84 Torino in the Champions League round of 16, while Athletic Futsal will play Kazakhstan’s Semey.

Look at the map and Serhii Zhurba’s Cablemen are off to the left, Denys Ovsiannikov’s Athletic to the right. Some 6,500 kilometres will separate them. Both will face coaches from the Spanish school of futsal, in the home of Fiat (Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino) and in the former Semipalatinsk. L84 Torino are coached by Diego Ríos Gayoso, a 42-year-old from Lugo in Galicia. At Semey it is Sergi Altisent, 33, from Lleida in Catalonia. Both were born in March, the elder on the 13th and the younger on the 23rd.

Having set off in opposite directions, let’s hope our teams come back together. It would be a historic moment for Ukrainian club futsal. If HIT and Athletic both get through, they will meet in the quarter-finals, guaranteeing Ukraine a place in the Final Four.

The story of L84 Torino has echoes of many Ukrainian Extra-League clubs. The team from Volpiano, in the Turin metropolitan area, appeared on the futsal map in 2003. It began as an amateur side called L84, the L for Lorenzo and 84 for the birth year of its founder and current president, Lorenzo Bonaria. Backed by the family technology company SPEA, the club has gone from regional leagues to an Italian league and cup double. As the seeded side, HIT will play the first leg away at L84 Torino.

Semey, from the city of the same name, known as Semipalatinsk until 2007, are one of the leading clubs in Central Asian futsal. In recent years they have invested heavily in bringing in international stars. Kazakh clubs are traditionally among the richest and most dangerous in European competition. Athletic will be the nominal home side in the first leg, then face the long trip to Semey.