Will FC Diamant bring the Champions League to Linz?

2023-08-28 03:14:00

The dream of the premier class has burst: Austria’s futsal champions FC Diamant Linz cannot repeat their place in the main round of the 2021/22 season in the UEFA Futsal Champions League. A 3-1 win over the Tel-Aviv Owls (ISR) in the final match of Group B of the preliminary round was not enough for promotion at the mini-tournament in Bulgaria.

Before that, Austria’s champions had to admit defeat to both hosts Amigo Northwest (BUL) and Örebro SK Futsalklubb (SWE) 1:4 – which meant that coach Ilija Simic’s team was eliminated in third place in the preliminary round group. Only the winners and the best runner-up from a total of eight groups advance to the main round, which takes place from October 24th to 29th. “We started from the second pot, we’re not satisfied with third place. We had a lot of bad luck. We were at least equal to our opponents,” says sporting director Agan Fejzic.

For the people of Linz, things continue on October 15 with the start of the 1st ÖFB Futsal League, where the Simic team is aiming to defend the title this year. “We want to bring the championship title back to Linz and hopefully play the Champions League in Linz next year,” reveals Fejzic, who already has a commitment from UEFA in this regard: “If we win the championship, then the preliminary round of the Champions League will take place in Linz. That would be a really cool thing that we’re working flat out on right now.”

understanding of hobbies

Until then, many of his kickers will also be on the ball in the lower house, because: In the past few days, some lower house footballers such as the Donau-Linz players Edwin Skrgic or Matej Vidovic swapped the grass for the parquet floor. While their teammates couldn’t get past a 0-0 draw against Ortisei in the Landesliga Ost on Friday, the duo was in action in Sofia.

Donau sports director Kurt Baumgartner understands this: “If you can play in the Champions League, that’s something unique. You can’t deny anyone that.” The 59-year-old knows what he’s getting into: “In the case of Skrgic, you just have to say: He’s a real difference player, so you accept it if he’s absent. We’re an amateur club, where the players are too could be absent because of work.” It only gets really intense for those kickers with a double passion in the fall finish anyway: “Some go skiing, others just play futsal.”

Amel Beglerovic, another futsal player, missed the second round of the championship for his club Union Haag am Hausruck yesterday. “We see it to a certain extent,” says Walter Heigl, chairman of Union Haag.