2003 Euro Beach Soccer League
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Spain (4th title)| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 6 June – 30 August |
| Teams | 9 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 9 (in 9 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Spain (4th title) |
| Runners-up |  France |
| Third place |  Portugal |
| Fourth place |  Switzerland |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 61 |
| Goals scored | 653 (10.7 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Madjer |
| Best player(s) | Ramiro Amarelle |
| Best goalkeeper | Adrian Lingenhag |
← 2002 2004 → | |
Division A events
Division B events
Superfinal & Division B eventThe 2003 Euro Beach Soccer League, was the sixth edition of the Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL), the premier beach soccer competition contested between European men's national teams, known as the European Pro Beach Soccer League at the time, occurring annually since its establishment in 1998. The league was organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) between June 6 and August 31, 2003 in nine different nations across Europe.
This was the last time the tournament would be held under the Pro title, as the following season the tournament was renamed and shortened to the Euro Beach Soccer League.
Following the preceding season, BSWW continued organising the nations of the EBSL across two distinct groups based on ability. This season the two groups were renamed as Division A, the top tier group, comprising the best nations of the Europe and Division B, the lower tier group, consisting of teams with lesser ability than those in A; these replaced the Southern and Northern "divisions" established in 2002. Each team competed 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]
Spain, having won three successive titles from 1999 to 2001, successfully reclaimed the title by defeating France in extra-time in the final. This was the fourth European title won by the Spanish. Portugal, who entered as defending champions, lost in the Superfinal semi-finals, ultimately finishing in third place.[2]
The league also doubled as the qualification process for the 2004 Beach Soccer World Championship. The nations finishing in first, second, third and fourth place qualified.[3]
Superfinal berths
This season 9 nations took part in the Euro Beach Soccer League whom were and were distributed as follows:
Division A (5) |
Division B (4)
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There were six 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
The amount of qualification spots available in the Superfinal from each division reflected the abilities of the nations in the respective tiers.
- Division A, consisting of the best teams of the EBSL, was awarded four Superfinal berths
- Division B, as the bottom tier, received two berths
| # | Position in Division | Division | Round entered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Winner | A | Semi-finals |
| 2 | Runner-up | ||
| 3 | Third place | Quarter-finals | |
| 4 | Fourth place | ||
| 5 | Winner | B | |
| 6 | Runner-up | ||
Division A
Division A consisted of five rounds of fixtures known as stages, with one stage hosted in each of the five countries participating as shown. Four teams took part in each, with each team taking part in a total of four of the five stages. 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 five stages all results were tallied up in a final league table.
Stage 1
The first stage took place in Estoril, Portugal. The hosts claimed the opening stage of Division A.
Matches
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Final standings
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Stage 2
The second stage took place in Brighton, England. Portugal won their second stage of the season.
Matches
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Final standings
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Stage 3
The third stage took place in Marseille, France. Spain won the stage.
Matches
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Final standings
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Stage 4
The fourth stage took place in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. A second stage victory was claimed by Spain.
Matches
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Final standings
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Stage 5
The fifth and final stage took place in Palma de Mallorca, Mallorca, Spain. The hosts won their third consecutive stage title of the season.
Matches
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Final standings
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Final table
The top four teams qualified to the Superfinal, fifth place exited this year's competition. Finishing first and second earned those teams byes straight into the semi-finals of the Superfinal, whilst finishing in third and fourth qualified those nations to the quarter-finals.
Spain were crowned winners of the division and earned the bye into the Superfinal semi-finals along with runners-up Portugal. Having failed to win any matches, England were rooted to the bottom of the table and were eliminated.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | W+ | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain |
12 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 75 | 43 | +32 | 30 | Advance to Superfinal semi-finals |
| 2 | Portugal |
12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 73 | 58 | +15 | 24 | |
| 3 | France |
12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 66 | 66 | 0 | 17 | Advance to Superfinal quarter-finals |
| 4 |  Italy |
12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 55 | 56 | –1 | 16 | |
| 5 |  England |
12 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 40 | 86 | –46 | 0 |
