© EuroFootball.com
The strongest team of Lithuania's hall football A league - Kaunas "Nautara" - travels to Switzerland, where the 2011-2012 season UEFA Hall Football Cup tournament B group qualifiers will take place. The Lithuanian opponents in this group will be two tournament newcomers - Oswestry's "The New Saints" (Wales), Geneva's "Geneva Futsal" (Switzerland) - and the Irish champions Dublin's "EID Futsal". The tournament will take place on August 16-19 in Geneva.
The winners of the group will advance to the main competition stage, where three teams from group 3 are already waiting for opponents - Tbilisi's "Iberia Star" (Georgia), Bratislava's "Slov-Matic" (Slovakia), and Minsk's "Mapid" (Belarus).
According to Kaunas "Nautara" coach Gerardo Pasažauskas, the goal is to advance to the main competition stage.
"The mood in the team is high, the men are cheerful, everyone is looking forward to the match. Each player is going to Switzerland with thoughts of winning and later traveling to the main stage in Georgia. The men understand very well that we need to try to overcome opponents and move forward", - said the coach of the country's hall football champions to KAFF.lt.
The main stage group 3 matches will be played on September 24 - October 2 in Georgia. Two strongest teams will advance to the elite stage in November. In the elite stage, the teams that will play in the final four tournament in April 2012 will be determined.
It is no secret that the summer is a tough time for hall football teams - many players represent A and B league teams, others are on vacation or work abroad.
"Summer is especially difficult for us because it is not easy to assemble a team. We will have to do without several key players - Marius Bezykornovas plays in Estonia, Paulius Smaryginas is in Ireland, Mariaus Butėnas will also be absent. Due to disqualification, Marselis Balasanovas will not be able to play, and Artūras Šteinas will miss the first two matches. Also, due to injury, it is unclear if Audrius Kšanavičius will be able to play at full strength", - G. Pasažauskas talked about the team's losses.
In Switzerland, "Nautara" will have to examine two newcomers of this tournament - "The New Saints" and Geneva's "Geneva Futsal" clubs.
"It's difficult to judge about the opponents, but we know that both Swiss, Welsh, and Irish teams will have a number of legionaries from Brazil in their lineups. We played against the Irish representatives in last year's qualifiers, and they had eight Brazilians, a Pole, and a Moldovan in their ranks. It was a truly powerful team. I think that the Swiss club will also have many legionaries, and it's hard to assess the capabilities of the Welsh teams", - said "Nautara" coach G. Pasažauskas.
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