Futsal Week: Chezzi brace seals win over Greenland. Switzerland up next

The Futsal National Team bounced straight back in their second match of the Poreč tournament. Roberto Osimani’s men defeated Greenland 2-0, finishing second in Group B behind Morocco Under-21 – who had beaten them in their opening game – and ahead of Greenland themselves. This afternoon at 16:00 their campaign will conclude with the third-place play-off against Switzerland, who also finished second in the other pool – Group A – mirroring the position of the Titano side. The efforts of the opening match do not seem to weigh on the legs of the Biancoazzurri who, paradoxically, play with more freedom and look sharper than the day before. The deadlock is broken in the 9th minute, when Chezzi isolates Rosing down the left flank and unleashes a powerful effort at the near post, drilling the ball through Møller-Lund’s legs and rendering useless the – otherwise perfectly timed – positioning of Cola at the far post. It is a scrappy game, at times very physical. Protti produces several crucial saves and reads of the play to preserve the lead, which nonetheless is not enough to let the Titani relax. Another burst is needed to cool Greenland’s ambitions. It arrives 4 minutes into the second half: Chezzi, once again, picks Davidsen’s pocket and breaks quickly, shrugging off the attempted rugby-style tackle by the Greenland no. 11 and also the covering challenge from Gundel-Collin. The rest is a familiar scene: a thunderous finish at the near post, where once more Møller-Lund is unable to intervene. Even so, Greenland refuse to give in and the match remains very spiky. Both teams use up their foul bonus, but no 10-metre free-kicks are awarded in the closing stages – clear proof of the mature and composed game management from Osimani’s men, who add the icing on the cake of a clean sheet to their victory. And today at 16:00 (live on the Futsal Week Facebook page) they have the chance to round off their Croatian adventure in style with a clash that has a fairly recent precedent: San Marino and Switzerland also met in January of this year, again during Futsal Week – which on that occasion was held in Labin. Osimani and his players remember well how that one ended. Today, they aim to repeat it.

Futsal Week October Cup, DAY 2 | Greenland – San Marino 0-2

GREENLAND

Møller-Lund, Frederiksen, Kreutzmann, Thorleifsen, Eriksen

Substitutes: Wind, Abelsen, Davidsen, Fleicher, Gundel-Collin, Johansen, Nielsen, Philbert, Rosing

Head coach: René Olsen

SAN MARINO

Protti, Maiani, Michelotti, Pasqualini, Ercolani

Substitutes: Giulianelli, Barbano, Chezzi, Cola, De Angelis, Dolcini, Para, Toccaceli, Zafferani

Head coach: Roberto Osimani

Referee 1: Simon Matej Podgoršek

Referee 2: Nejc Dušćak

Timekeeper: Dragan Župan

Booked: Kreutzmann, Davidsen, Ercolani, Maiani, Pasqualini, Chezzi

Scorer: 6:55 and 23:31 Chezzi