ASTANA – Almaty Football Club (FC) Kairat recently defeated Czech FC Chrudim to reach the final four of the 2018-2019 Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Futsal Champions League’s four-team finals, reports UEFA.
Photo credit: afckairat.kz.
Kairat beat Chrudim in an elite round match with a 4:2 score. They dominated the game’s first half, striking the opponent’s goal three times. The match got closer in the second half, when Chrudim reduced the lead by two goals.
Kairat’s Pereira Rangel scored in the match’s second minute, John Lennon in the seventh minute, Chingiz Yesenamanov in the 17th minute and Dauren Tursagulov in the 29th minute. Chrudim’s Matěj Slováček scored in the 22nd minute and Max in the 25th minute.
The league’s elite round top scorers include Kairat’s Edson Gomes Dos Santos, Portuguese FC Sporting’s Dieguinho Henrique de Abreu Assis, Serbian FC Ekonomac Kragujevac’s Divanei and Belgian FC Halle-Gooik’s Alessandro Patias, and the season’s top scorer is Polish FC Record Bielsko-Biała’s Michal Kubik.
The UEFA Futsal Champions League is an annual futsal competition for European club teams. Since 2006-2007, the winner is decided through a final four tournament.
Along with Kairat, Sporting and Spanish football clubs Inter and Barça have secured finals spots after topping their elite round groups. Inter progressed from elite round Group A with 9 points, Barça from Group B with 9 points, Sporting from Group C with 7 points and Kairat from Group D with 9 points.
The finals will be in April 2019 and hosted by either Kazakhstan, or Spain or Portugal. The date and host will be announced by draw Dec. 3. Past host cities include Moscow in 2008, Yekaterinburg in 2009, Lisbon in 2010 and 2015, Almaty in 2011 and 2017, Lleida in 2012, Tbilisi in 2013, Baku in 2014, Guadalajara in 2016 and Zaragoza in 2018.
Inter is a five-time UEFA Futsal Champions League winner and the record holder for the greatest amount of final four victories. Kairat has reached the finals eight times since the 2005-2006 season, which is one more than Inter and two above Barça and Sporting. They took first place in the 2013 and 2015 finals.
Kairat was founded in 1954. In addition to their two league titles, they won eight Kazakhstan Cups and two Kazakhstan Super Cups.
The finals will be broadcast on UEFA.com and the YouTube channel UEFA.tv. Tickets will become available for sale after December.
