2005 Euro Beach Soccer League

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Dates8 July – 28 August
Teams16 (from 1 confederation)
Venue6 (in 6 host cities)
Champions Italy (1st title)
2005 Euro Beach Soccer League
Tournament details
Dates8 July – 28 August
Teams16 (from 1 confederation)
Venue6 (in 6 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Italy (1st title)
Runners-up Portugal
Third place France
Fourth place  Switzerland
Tournament statistics
Matches played48
Goals scored468 (9.75 per match)
Top scorerSpain Amarelle
Best playerItaly Cristiano Scalabrelli
Best goalkeeperPortugal Bruno Alves
2004
2006
Locations of the events of the 2005 Euro Beach Soccer League
Division A events
Division B events
Division A & C events
Superfinal

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.

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.

Superfinal berths

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

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 table

All four teams automatically qualified to the Superfinal. However, finishing top of the division table earned that team a bye straight into the semifinals, 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 quarter-finals. On the other hand, France, finishing last, received the lowest seeding in Division A and hence suffered the consequences of having to play the next best seed, the winners of 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.

Fifth placeConsolation semifinalsQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal
 Austria4
 Greece3
 Greece5 (0) Austria2
 England (pens.)5 (1) Germany4
 Germany6
 England2
 England4 Germany4
 Ukraine10 Hungary5
 Hungary7
 Ukraine3
Seventh place Ukraine6 Hungary8Third place
 Norway2 Netherlands4
 Greece4 Netherlands3 Austria5
 Norway3 Norway2 Netherlands4
Awards[7]
Best player: Ukraine Oleksandr Pylypenko
Top scorer(s): England TD Al'Said, Hungary Ferenc Vígh (6 goals)
Best goalkeeper: Germany Dennis Prostka

Final standings

The top two nations qualified straight into the Superfinal quarter-finals along with three sides from Division A. The third placed team qualified to the Superfinal play-off round to contest the sixth and final quarter-final spot against the winners of Division C. 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
1st place, gold medalist(s)  Hungary Advance to Superfinal quarter-finals
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  Germany
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  Austria Advance to Superfinal play-off round
4  Netherlands
5  Ukraine
6  England
7  Greece
8  Norway

Division C

Superfinal

Sources

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