Romania won the miniEURO Moldova 2012, the European Minifootball Championship, a competition which was held in the capital of Moldova, Chisinau. The winners defeated Montenegro in the finals, score 2-1 after full time.
The exciting final game watched by more than 3,000 supporters from all over the continent, and was a fine culmination to a three day event which had a total of 32 international games. Third place went to Czech Republic, after they beat Slovakia on penalties by a 7-6 margin.
The first day of the tournament was marred by pouring rain which made very difficult for the teams to play. Fortunately, the weather conditions were excellent during the last two days, so the 16 participant teams got their chance to show their skills and desire to win,
As a further plus the competition was a massive PR success, many Moldavians coming the National Opera Square in downtown Chisinau to see minifootball, perhaps for the first time in their lives – they couldn’t help but be impressed at the skill and commitment that they witnessed.
Both England and Germany – two of the very best European minifootball national teams – had their hopes smashed from the group stage, the Germans in particular being unlucky after they lost 4-5 to Slovakia in perhaps the match of the tournament, to go to the quarters. Germany had a 4-1 advantage before the Slovaks hit back, scoring four late goals, enough to secure their first place in the group and subsequently the qualification to the quarter finals.
The highly rated Romanian team, which won the European tournament in Bratislava 2010 and Tulcea 2011, impressed with a mature passing game and several players which were instrumental in this success. Especially number seven, Adrian Calugareanu had his impressive skills appreciated by the crowd, as he was crowned best player in the European Championship. Calugareanu, who is 24 years old, plays for the Brasov county champion team Design Construct and got his place in the Romanian national team after a very impressive performance in the Romanian National Championship held in Iasi during the summer.
Montenegro enjoyed a routine passage to the final with one of their matches in particular to be remembered for many years to come, a stunning 7-1 win against the team of England, which practically ended the English hopes of the title. Montenegro also beat Italy, 4-3 in a real thriller
Razvan Burleanu, president of the European Minifootball Federation, was delighted to see that this tournament had achieved its goal of friendship through minifootball, a simple game that can be played by everybody, but also a competition that makes possible such great events as the one held in Chisinau.
The official federation web site – www.minifootball.eu – will be posting many videos and photos and photos from this wonderful gathering throughout the coming weeks, so keep coming and watch the great moments of miniEuro 2012 !
A short highlight of the final game, ROMANIA against MONTENEGRO