2005 Euro Beach Soccer League

The 2005 Euro Beach Soccer League, was the eighth edition of the Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL), originally known as the European Pro Beach Soccer League, the premier beach soccer competition contested between European men's national teams, occurring annually since its establishment in 1998. The league was organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) between July 8 and August 28, 2005 in five different nations across Europe.

2005 Euro Beach Soccer League
Tournament details
Dates8 July – 28 August
Teams16 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)6 (in 6 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Italy (1st title)
Runners-up Portugal
Third place France
Fourth place  Switzerland
Tournament statistics
Matches played48
Goals scored467 (9.73 per match)
Top scorer(s) Amarelle
Best player(s) Cristiano Scalabrelli
Best goalkeeper Bruno Alves
Locations of the events of the 2005 Euro Beach Soccer League
Division A events
Division B events
Division A & C events
Superfinal

Following the preceding season, BSWW continued organising the nations of the EBSL across three divisions (A, B and C), with each team competing in their respective division to try and earn a place in the season-finale event, the Superfinal, in which the league title was then contested directly.[1]

Italy were ultimately crowned champions, coming back from 5–1 down in the last period of the final to win their first European title.[2] France entered the league as defending champions but lost in the Superfinal semi-finals, finishing the league in third place.

Teams

This season 16 nations took part in the Euro Beach Soccer League whom were and were distributed as follows:

Superfinal berths

There were eight berths available in this season's Superfinal. The table summarises in what positions nations needed to finish in their respective divisions in order to qualify to the Superfinal, what round of the Superfinal they would enter finishing in said positions, and the seeding they would receive.

Allocations

Seed Position in Division Division Round entered
1WinnerASemi-finals
2Runner-upQuarter-finals
3Third place
4Fourth place
5WinnerB
6Runner-up
7Third placePlay-off round
8WinnerC
  • Division A was awarded four Superfinal berths (with only four teams in the division, all teams automatically qualified - the teams played to try and win the division in order to earn the single berth straight into the Superfinal semi-finals and, failing this, attain the best seeding possible)
  • Division B received three berths and Division C, one.

Play off round

  • Since the Division A winners received a bye in the quarter-finals, this meant one of the four quarter-final ties was to be void. The three other quarter-final matches only had enough spaces to accommodate six of the other seven teams qualified for Superfinal.
  • Hence BSWW decided the top five of the remaining seven teams would go straight into the quarters, whilst a play-off round would take place between the two lowest ranked qualifiers (3rd Division B v Winner Division C) to determine who gets the final sixth quarter-final spot. The loser and now leftover seventh nation would have to settle for the consolation matches.

Division A

Division A consisted of four rounds of fixtures known as stages, with one stage hosted in each of the four countries participating as shown. All four teams took part in each. In each stage, the teams played each other once. The nation who earned the most points at the end of the stage was crowned stage winners.

At the end of the four stages all results were tallied up in a final league table.

Stage 1

The first stage took place in Tignes, France. Portugal won the event.

Stage 2

The second stage took place in Figueira da Foz, Portugal. The hosts claimed their second stage win.

Stage 3

The third and penultimate stage took place in Cervia, Italy. The hosts earned their first stage victory. Portugal earned enough points during this stage to secure first place in the final division standings.

Stage 4

The fourth and final stage took place in Santa Ponsa, Mallorca, Spain. Portugal won their third stage title.

Final Division A table

All four Division A teams automatically qualified to the Superfinal. Finishing top of the division table earned that team a bye straight into the semi-finals of the Superfinal, whilst the final positions of the other three nations determined seedings in the quarter-finals.

Portugal were crowned winners, earning the bye into the Superfinal semi finals. Spain, by finishing second, ensured the next highest seeding meaning they would be drawn against the worst ranked team to make the Superfinal (the play-off winners) in the quarters. On the other hand, France, finishing last, received the lowest seeding in Division A and hence suffered the consequences of having to play next best seed, the winners from Division B.

Pos Team Pld W W+ L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Portugal 129036046+1427Advance to Superfinal semi-finals
2 Spain 125165750+717Advance to Superfinal quarter-finals
3 Italy 124174354−1114
4 France 124085363–1012

Division B

Results

This season Division B was played as a straight knockout tournament. The eight teams contesting the division started in the quarter-finals, playing one match per round until the final when the winner was crowned. The losers of the quarter-finals played in consolation matches to determine their final division placements.

  5th place match 5th – 8th place play-offs Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
                                               
      Austria   4   
      Greece   3   
    Greece   5 (0)          Austria   2   
    England (pens.)   5 (1)        Germany   4   
       Germany   6    
      England   2   
    England   4         Germany   4 
    Ukraine   10          Hungary   5 
       Hungary   7      
      Ukraine   3   
  Ukraine   6           Hungary   8 
  7th place match       Norway   2        Netherlands   4      3rd place match
    Greece   4       Netherlands   3       Austria   5 
    Norway   3        Norway   2        Netherlands   4 
        

Final Division B standings

The top two nations qualified straight into the Superfinal quarter-finals alongside the three sides from Division A. The third placed team qualified to the Superfinal play-off round to play the winners of Division C to contest the sixth and final quarter-final spot. The remaining Division B nations exited this season's EBSL.

Hungary won the Division B tournament title, whilst hosts Austria claimed the third and final spot in the Superfinal.

Rank Team Qualification
 Hungary Advance to Superfinal quarter-finals
 Germany
 Austria Advance to Superfinal play-off round
4  Netherlands
5  Ukraine
6  England
7  Greece
8  Norway

Division C

The nations comprising Division C contested one round of fixtures. The teams played each other once. The nation who earned the most points at the end of the matches was crowned winner the division.

Matches

The fixtures were played in Santa Ponsa, Mallorca, Spain, alongside stage 4 of Division A.

5 August 2005
Belgium 2–5 Russia
Poland 2–2 (a.e.t.)
5–6 (pens.)		  Switzerland
6 August 2005
Belgium 1–5 Poland
Switzerland  5–2 Russia
7 August 2005
Poland 3–2 Russia
Switzerland  7–2 Belgium

Final Division C table

The winners of Division C solely qualified to the Superfinal play-off round to play the lowest ranked qualifier from Division B to contest the sixth and final quarter-final spot. The remaining Division C nations exited this season's EBSL.

Switzerland were crowned winners.

Pos Team Pld W W+ L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Switzerland 3210146+88Advance to Superfinal play-off round
2 Poland 3201105+56
3 Russia 3102910−13
4 Belgium 3003517–120

Superfinal

Qualified teams

This is a summary of the teams who qualified for the Superfinal.

Seed Team Division Round entered
1 PortugalASemi-finals
2 SpainQuarter-finals
3 Italy
4 France
5 HungaryB
6 Germany
7 AustriaPlay-off round
8  SwitzerlandC

Results

This season the Superfinal was played as a straight knockout tournament. Six teams contesting the title started in the quarter-finals, with Portugal joining in the semi-finals, playing one match per round until the final when the winner of the 2005 Euro Beach Soccer League was crowned. The losers of the quarter-finals and play-off round played in consolation matches to determine their final league placements.

Firstly, the play-off round took place between the winners of Division C and the lowest ranked qualifiers from Division B for reasons explained earlier. The winners, Switzerland, moved on to the quarter-finals. The losers, Austria, retreated to the consolidation matches.

Play-off round
   
7  Austria 7
8   Switzerland (a.e.t.) 8

Following the play-off round, the main knockout stages and consolation matches of the Superfinal took place.

  5th place match 5th–8th place playoffs Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
                                               
     1   Portugal    
       bye    
   7   Austria  1        1   Portugal  4  
   5   Hungary  6        4   France  2  
   4   France (pens.)  5 (2)
     5   Hungary  5 (1)  
   5   Hungary  5        1   Portugal  5 (1)
   2   Spain  7        3   Italy (pens.)  5 (2)
     3   Italy  6  
       6   Germany  4  
 6   Germany  4        3   Italy  5
  7th place match      2   Spain  7        8    Switzerland  3     3rd place match
   7   Austria  2    8    Switzerland  4    4   France  6
   6   Germany  5      2   Spain  3      8    Switzerland  2

Championship match details
Portugal 5–5 (a.e.t.) Italy
Hernâni
Belchior
Alan
Barraca 		Report Pasquali
Fruzzetti
Agostini
Penalties
Alan
Madjer 		1–2 Fruzzetti
Pasquali

Winners
 2005 Euro Beach Soccer League
Champions 

Italy
First title

Superfinal final standings

Italy beat favourites Portugal in the final on penalties to win their first Euro Beach Soccer League title.

Pos Team Notes
1 ItalyEBSL Champions
2 PortugalRunners-up
3 FranceThird place
4  Switzerland
5 Spain
6 Hungary
7 Germany
8 Austria

Sources
  1. "Mastercard Euro Beach Soccer League". beachsoccer.com. December 2005. Archived from the original on 2 December 2005. Retrieved 22 February 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. "Mastercard Euro Beach Soccer League". beachsoccer.com. May 2006. Archived from the original on 8 May 2006. Retrieved 22 February 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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