2014 Euro Beach Soccer League
Tournament details
Dates20 June – 17 August
Teams24 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)5 (in 5 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Russia (4th title)
Runners-up Spain
Third place Portugal
Fourth place  Switzerland
Tournament statistics
Top scorer(s)Llorenç (ESP) and Peremitin (RUS)
Best player(s)Noel Ott (SUI)
Best goalkeeperJesús Donaire (ESP)
← 2013
2015 →
All statistics correct as of 1-sep-14.

The 2014 Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL) is an annual European competition in beach soccer. The competitions allows national teams to compete in beach soccer in a league format over the summer months. Each season ends with a Superfinal, deciding the competition winner.

This season, there were twelve teams each participating in two divisions in each stage that faced each other in a round-robin system. Division A consisted of the 12 top teams in Europe based on the BSWW European Ranking. Division B consisted of 12 of the lower ranked teams and new entries to the competition. Each division has its own regulations and competition format.

The competition was used as qualifying event for the 2015 European Games. The top three teams from each group in the Superfinal qualified. The top team from the Promotional Finals, excluding the 12th team from Division A, also qualified. Azerbaijan were automatically qualified as hosts.[1]

During the season, FIFA's Amendments to the Beach Soccer Laws of the Game – 2014 came into effect. This involved such changes as only awarding one point for a penalty shootout win (compared to two points previously) and instead of penalty shootouts being sudden death from the outset, both sides will take three penalty kicks each before sudden death rules come into use.[2]

Calendar

Dates City Country Stage
20–22 June Catania  Italy Stage 1
27–29 June Sopot  Poland Stage 2
11–13 July Moscow  Russia Stage 3
8–10 August Siófok  Hungary Stage 4
14–17 August Torredembarra  Spain Superfinal and Promotion Final

All times are CEST (UTC+02:00).

Teams

2014 Euro Beach Soccer League Divisions
DIVISION A DIVISION B
 Belarus  Italy  Russia  Andorra  Czech Republic  Kazakhstan
 France  Netherlands  Spain  Austria  England  Moldova
 Germany  Poland   Switzerland  Azerbaijan  Estonia  Norway
 Greece  Portugal  Ukraine  Bulgaria  Hungary  Turkey

Stage 1 (Catania, 20–22 June)

     Stage winners

Division A

Schedule and results

Poland 3 – 4 Belarus
Report
Italy 6 – 2 Netherlands
Report
France 2 – 6 Russia
Report
Germany 2 – 4  Switzerland
Report
Poland 0 – 4 Germany
Report
Switzerland 6 – 5 Belarus
Report
Russia 3 – 4 Netherlands
Report
France 2 – 3 Italy
Report
Belarus 2 – 4 Germany
Report
Switzerland 11 – 3 Poland
Report
Netherlands 3 – 5 France
Report
Russia 1 – 2 Italy
Report

Individual Awards

MVP: Switzerland Noël Ott
Top scorer: Switzerland Noël Ott (11 goals)
Best goalkeeper: Germany Sasha Penke

Source:[3]

Stage 2 (Sopot, 27–29 June)

     Stage winners

Division A

Schedule and results

Switzerland 3 – 7 France
Report
Portugal 3 – 1 Netherlands
Report
Spain 2 – 1 Ukraine
Report
Greece 4 – 3 (a.e.t.) Poland
Report
Switzerland 6 – 6 (a.e.t.) Ukraine
Report
Penalties
1 – 2
Portugal 8 – 0 Greece
Report
Spain 6 – 3 France
Report
Poland 5 – 3 Netherlands
Report
Ukraine 4 – 1 France
Report
Netherlands 1 – 5 Greece
Report
Switzerland 8 – 3 Spain
Report
Poland 6 – 8 Portugal
Report

Individual Awards

MVP: Poland Witold Ziober
Top scorer: Spain Llorenç Gómez (7 goals)
Best goalkeeper: Portugal Nuno Hidalgo

Source:[4]

Stage 3 (Moscow, 11–13 July)

     Stage winners (Div. A)
     Stage winners (Div. B)

Division A

Team Pld W W+ WP L GF GA +/- Pts
 Russia 3 2 0 0 1 13 5 +8 6
 Spain 3 2 0 0 1 11 5 +6 6
 Belarus 3 2 0 0 1 11 11 0 6
 Greece 3 0 0 0 3 5 19 –14 0

Division B

Team Pld W W+ WP L GF GA +/- Pts
 Estonia 3 2 0 0 1 11 6 +5 6
 Azerbaijan 3 2 0 0 1 8 5 +3 6
 Moldova 3 1 0 0 2 10 14 –4 3
 Kazakhstan 3 0 0 1 2 6 10 –4 1

Schedule and results

Estonia 7 – 3 Moldova
Report
Azerbaijan 3 – 1 Kazakhstan
Report
Spain 4 – 1 Belarus
Report
Greece 0 – 7 Russia
Report
Estonia 2 – 1 Azerbaijan
Report
Kazakhstan 3 – 5 Moldova
Report
Spain 6 – 0 Greece
Report
Russia 2 – 4 Belarus
Report
Moldova 2 – 4 Azerbaijan
Report
Kazakhstan 2 – 2 (a.e.t.) Estonia
Report
Penalties
3 – 2
Belarus 6 – 5 Greece
Report
Russia 4 – 1 Spain
Report

Individual Awards

MVP: Russia Aleksey Makarov
Top scorer: Belarus Ihar Bryshtel, Russia Aleksey Makarov (4 goals)
Best goalkeeper: Spain Dona

Source:[5]

Stage 4 (Siófok, 8–10 August)

     Stage winners (Div. A)
     Stage winners (Div. B)

Division A

Team Pld W W+ WP L GF GA +/- Pts
 Ukraine 3 2 0 0 1 13 12 +1 6
 Portugal 3 1 0 1 1 13 11 +2 4
 Italy 3 0 1 0 2 18 17 +1 2
 Germany 3 0 0 1 2 12 16 –4 1

Division B

Schedule and results

Turkey 5 – 1 Bulgaria
Report
Andorra 1 – 4 Hungary
Report
Norway 4 – 3 Austria
Report
Czech Republic 7 – 3 England
Report
Italy 6 – 5 (a.e.t.) Ukraine
Report
Germany 2 – 5 Portugal
Report
Turkey 6 – 4 Norway
Report
Austria 6 – 8 Bulgaria
Report
Czech Republic 7 – 2 Andorra
Report
Italy 7 – 7 Germany
Report
Penalties
1 – 3
Hungary 7 – 6 England
Report
Portugal 3 – 4 Ukraine
Report
Bulgaria 4 – 3 Norway
Report
Austria 0 – 3 Turkey
Report
England 8 – 2 Andorra
Report
Germany 3 – 4 Ukraine
Report
Hungary 5 – 5 Czech Republic
Report
Penalties
6 – 5
Portugal 5 – 5 Italy
Report
Penalties
3 – 2

Individual Awards

MVP: Ukraine Roman Pachev
Top scorer: Italy Gabriele Gori (9 goals)
Best goalkeeper: Italy Stefano Spada

Source:[6]

Cumulative standings

The eight best placed teams in Division A (including stage winners and hosts), in which each team played two stages, qualified for the Superfinal. The qualifiers for the Promotion Final were the winners and runners-up in each Division B stage, the best 3rd place team from all of the Division B events, and the last placed team in Division A.

     Team advanced to Superfinal
     Team advanced to Promotional Final

Ranking & tie-breaking criteria: Division A – 1. Points earned 2. Goal difference 3. Goals scored | Division B – 1. Points earned 2. Highest stage placement 3. Goal difference 4. Goals scored.

Finals (Torredembarra, 14–17 August)

The top three teams from each group in the Superfinal qualified for the 2015 European Games in Baku. The top team from the Promotional Final, excluding the 12th team from Division A, also qualified. Azerbaijan was automatically qualified as host country.

Division A (Superfinal)

clinched Championship Final

Group stage results

All kickoff times are of local time in Torredembarra (UTC+02:00).

Germany 0 – 7  Switzerland
Report
Belarus 1 – 3 Portugal
Report
Italy 2 – 9 Russia
Report
Spain 8 – 6 Ukraine
Report
Italy 2 – 1 Belarus
Report
Switzerland 5 – 3 Ukraine
Report
Portugal 11 – 7 Russia
Report
Spain 6 – 2 Germany
Report
Ukraine 6 – 0 Germany
Report
Portugal 3 – 6 Italy
Report
Russia 6 – 2 Belarus
Report
Switzerland 2 – 8 Spain
Report

Play-off results

Seventh-place Match

Belarus 3 – 3 Germany
Report
Penalties
9 – 8
Platja de Torredembarra

Fifth-place Match

Ukraine 2 – 2 Italy
Report
Penalties
4 – 5
Platja de Torredembarra

Third-place Match

Switzerland 2 – 6 Portugal
Report
Platja de Torredembarra

Championship final Match

Spain 3 – 4 Russia
Report
Platja de Torredembarra

Individual Awards

Source:[7]

Final Division A Standing

Rank Team
1  Russia
2  Spain
3  Portugal
4   Switzerland
5  Italy
6  Ukraine
7  Belarus
8  Germany

Division B (Promotional Final)

clinched Promotional Final

Group stage results

All kickoff times are of local time in Torredembarra (UTC+02:00).

Czech Republic 2 – 6 Azerbaijan
Report
Bulgaria 0 – 6 Poland
Report
Hungary 1 – 0 Estonia
Report
Turkey 4 – 2 England
Report
Czech Republic 3 – 2 (a.e.t.) Bulgaria
Report
Poland 6 – 1 Azerbaijan
Report
Turkey 3 – 1 Estonia
Report
Hungary 4 – 5 (a.e.t.) England
Report
Estonia 2 – 5 England
Report
Azerbaijan 7 – 2 Bulgaria
Report
Turkey 2 – 6 Hungary
Report
Poland 4 – 1 Czech Republic
Report

Play-off results

Seventh-place Match

Bulgaria 5 – 4 Estonia
Report
Platja de Torredembarra

Fifth-place Match

Czech Republic 6 – 4 England
Report
Platja de Torredembarra

Third-place Match

Azerbaijan 5 – 3 Turkey
Report
Platja de Torredembarra

Promotion Final

Hungary 6 – 4 Poland
Report
Platja de Torredembarra

Final Division B Standing

Rank Team
1  Hungary Promoted Division A
2  Poland Relegated Division B1
3  Azerbaijan Stay Division B
4  Turkey
5  Czech Republic
6  England
7  Bulgaria
8  Estonia
1. The Netherlands, a Division A side, did not enter the following year's EBSL in 2015. To ensure 12 teams in the top division in 2015 as normal, BSWW retrospectively awarded promotion to the runners-up of the 2014 Promotion Final as well as the winners, in the lead up to the start of the 2015 season. The runners-up happened to be the relegated side, Poland, who ultimately did not see relegation materialise for this reason and continued to compete in Division A.

Sources

References

  1. ^ European Season 2014 revealed!
  2. ^ FIFA.com
  3. ^ "Switzerland and Italy claim head of groups". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 22 June 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  4. ^ "Portugal, champions of the EBSL Sopot 2014!". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 29 June 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Обыграв Испанию с "нужным" счетом, "красная машина" выигрывает домашний этап Евролиги..." BeachSoccer.Ru (in Russian). 13 July 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Победа Украины на венгерском этапе отправляет Россию в группу к Португалии, Италии и Беларуси…". BeachSoccer.Ru (in Russian). 10 August 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Russia crowned Europe's best again!". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 17 August 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2022.

External links

Euro Beach Soccer League
International beach soccer
Categories