NEWS
The twins win European Footvolley Champions 2019
Women’s footvolley is growing fast in Europe and this season there’s been 21 different players from 8 nations playing 55 games. A lot has happened in just a few years. Netherlands and Italy has had their share of good players for many years, but out of nowhere come two twin sisters from Norway and they end up winning all four tournaments of the European Footvolley League 2019.
Women’s footvolley is growing fast in Europe and this season there’s been 21 different players from 8 nations playing 54 games. A lot has happened in just a few years. Netherlands and Italy have had their share of good players for many years, but out of nowhere come two twin sisters from Norway and they end up winning all four tournaments of the European Footvolley League 2019.
The qualification
The first qualification tournament of the year was played in Graz, Austria and we all expected it to be a clash between the old foes Netherlands and Italy. In stead we had a surprise final between Norway (Pernille Ingvaldsen Smith and Henriette Ingvaldsen and Germany (Rebecca Gabriel and Stefanie Mohr) with Norway winning the close game in three sets 18-13 13-18 15-13. In Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany the Dutch ladies began the tournament by beating Norway 18-13 in the first group game. Netherlands were back and surely the Norwegians winning in Graz was just a fluke. Or was it? Norway fought their way back from the bad start, first by beating a strong Italian team with the equally talented newcomers Sara Cupellini and Francesca Roma and then also Germany. They beat Germany again in a very close semi final 11-18, 18-12, 16-14 and were ready to face Netherlands in the final. Norway won in two sets 12-18, 15-18 and could lift the trophy ones again. Truth be told, this year Evelyn Dobbinga had to let go of her Dutch partner Nicoline Birza and played the Tour with 2 different, but equally experienced, partners Lotte Wiekamp and Nynke Karrenbeld. The third and final qualification was held on the sunny beach of Albufeira, Portugal, and this time the Dutch ladies were not able to attend. This was a great opportunity for the Italian girls to step up - which they did. Sara and Francesca from Italy, but living and playing in Valencia, Spain, have improved a lot this season and ended up in the final against Norway. This again really intense final ended with the Norwegian twins beating the Italians 13-18, 18-12, 15-17. A hat trick from the Norwegian women.
Who are these girls from the north?
The twins from Norway
Pernille Ingvaldsen Smith and Henriette Ingvaldsen are twins born in 1992, growing up in Sarpsborg - a small city of about 55.000 people located at the idyllic coast of Norway. Now they both live and work in Oslo - the capital of Norway. They are both newly educated doctors. And they have both played football all their life, and even represented Norway in the under 19 national team. And they both do football freestyle (ask them to show you a trick next time you see them). And they are both Norwegian ping pong champions. And now they both play footvolley. In other words; they are used to taking on any challenge together and they are used to winning. We are surprised they are not both playing on the right side of the court, but that would just not work :)
But back to the big final in Lucerne.
RESULTS: See all the results from the championship
VIDEO: See the final at the bottom of the article
The crowning of the European Champions in Lucerne
Three in a row and now the Norwegians had to handle the pressure of being the favourites. This pressure has been on the Dutch ladies the last couple of years as they have won almost all tournaments. At first Pernille and Henriette came out hot and showed no mercy against the Dutch beating them 18-12 in the group stage. In the mountains of Switzerland the women’s footvolley competition really got what it deserved: High-quality semi finals between the top 4 female teams. Germany and Italy did not make it and Germany won the bronze. In the final Norway and Netherlands met again and Nynke and Evelyn were ready for some revenge. But it was not enough. Norway is crowned European Footvolley Champions 2019 by beating the Dutch 18-15, 18-15.
After 54 games Norway sits on top, but right behind them there are a lot of talented women ready to knock them down. The pressure is on. Who will be on top in 2020?
TEAM INFORMATION: See all the teams playing in Lucerne
What is the best strategy for Footvolley, really?
Like Switzerland, where the final of the Footvolley League 2019 takes place, we usually prefer to stay neutral in more political issues. However we received many questions from our member nations and players on how to deal with events like the Meet the Elite event in Brasilia. The short answer is that we as the European continental body will not promote nor support this event. Nevertheless we do wish the European players and all other participants the best of luck. And of course every European member nation has the liberty to determine its own position and support its athletes.
Like Switzerland, where the final of the Footvolley League 2019 takes place, we usually prefer to stay neutral in more political issues. However we received many questions from our member nations and players on how to deal with events like the Meet the Elite event in Brasilia. The short answer is that we as the European continental body will not promote nor support this event. Nevertheless we do wish the European players and all other participants the best of luck. And of course every European member nation has the liberty to determine its own position and support its athletes.
We realize this event is a commercial show event and although several very high level players will attend and it will give footvolley some well deserved media attention, we sincerely hope that a possible next edition will take into account some of our concerns.
Strategies might differ but..
There are several reasons why we do not want to be associated with this particular event. Most of all because it divides and frustrates so many people on different continents. Many feel a lack of respect for all the hard work they put into the development of the sport. The methods used by the organisation of this event go against everything we stand for:
Contacting players directly without informing the national and/or continental federations
Disregarding the national and continental ranking
Trying to convince local organisers in Europe to host similar events without informing the national and European federation
Pledging support to one organiser for a specific date while trying to convince another location for the same date
Branding the images of the official European Championships and other European events with their logo and publishing them without permission
Buying a website address (url) that is directly connected to the European Footvolley League preventing us to go international
All of this combined gives us the impression that this agency has become an competitor. This is even more disappointing because for years the founder has been a welcome guest in many European tournaments. But we will not take it personally. The fact is we all have different ideas and strategies on how to make the sport grow.
We all have different ideas and strategies on how to make the sport grow.
Making the sport professional
Footvolley needs and deserves to be recognised as an official sport. That should be the ultimate goal. The main question we often receive from journalists is: “When will footvolley finally be an Olympic sport?”. The first step is recognition as a sport from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In short this means we need to establish an International Sports Federation (IF). Furthermore the Olympic Charter indicates that in order to be accepted, a sport must be widely practiced by men in at least 75 countries and on four continents and by women in no fewer than 40 countries and on three continents. Nevertheless footvolley does have the value and appeal to be part of the Olympic Games, of that we are certain.
That is why in Rome on May 25, 2015 we founded the European Footvolley League. Our mission is to develop footvolley as an internationally recognized sport through competition and sports development. The ultimate goal of official recognition might still be far off but anyone who believes differently probably has ulterior motives. Some just want to see their event or brand grow.
Footvolley should not only be connected to profit, marketing and exposure on tv. It all starts with respecting the national federations in each country. We still have a long way until all the countries in the world have national federations representing the footvolley players, but that does not mean we can’t start now.
This starts by acting professional with each other and respecting each nation and the players representing that nation. For the EFVL it is important that each of our member nations is represented by a national federation that is respected as the representative for the footvolley players in that country.
Some advice moving forward
To make the world of footvolley a better place we have the following advice for 2019 and forward:
Team invitations
Invite players to tournaments using proper channels. That means contacting the national federation and/or the ambassador for that country. If that is too difficult, contact the continental federation or include it anyhow.Respect the ranking
More and more countries are being organized and with national ranking systems. The top teams are first in line to attend tournaments and represent their country. They have fought for it and they deserve it.Respect the flag
Do not let players represent a country if they are not holding a passport for that country. For mixed teams (two players from different countries) we recommend using denominations such as “International”, “Mixed” etc. and not just pick a random country (believe us, this happens a lot).Be transparent
Maybe you are organizing a tournament and you know what teams you want to attend. Instead of contacting the players directly we urge you to still send the invitation through the national federation making sure they are informed. Let them know who you want to invite and that the tournament is not based on national ranking. They will represent their country with the flag on their shirts so it seems only fair the national federation should be informed.Do not use images and videos without permission
Of course we should share each other's media output as much as possible. But if you are not the owner of audiovisual materials (pictures, videos, logos) always ask for permission to use them (especially when associated with a brand).
The EFVL strives to create an open and transparent footvolley community in Europe. We focus our energy on what happens in Europe, but we also support the general expansion of footvolley around the world. However, as we strive to be transparent in all that we do we expect others to do the same to us.
For too long the development of this beautiful sport has been compromised because the system and the powers behind it were regional, top down and exclusive. That’s what we are trying to change. And the European Footvolley League is not alone on this. The Asian Footvolley Federation, the National Footvolley Association of the USA, the Russian Footvolley League, the UAE Footvolley Association, some great initiatives in Australia and Africa and so many others are doing a wonderful job applying the same principles. We all feel strongly connected to Brazil, where footvolley on the beach was born and we all have many friends. But we hope they can solve their differences and we offer them our table to meet and discuss the future of the sport.
“If you want to go fast go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
#UNITEDWEPLAY
Aftermovie Footvolley World Challenge Cascais
Enjoy the aftermovie of the Footvolley World Challenge in Cascais, Portugal.
Podium🏆🥇🥈🥉:
1º Rodrigo Beze (Alemão) / Victor Real - BRASIL 2
2º Luiz Nogueira / Maurício Jotha - BRASIL 1
3º Filipe Santos / Beto Correira - PORTUGAL 1
4º Antonio Aurino / Marcel Birza - NETHERLANDS
Congratulations to all participants and thank you to all the fans and @FNFV @futevoleipt @alancavalcanti #cascais #visitcascais for a superb organisation. ❤
LIVE streaming from Cascais, Portugal
Watch the semi finals LIVE from Cascais, Portugal.
Watch the semi finals LIVE from Footvolley World Challenge, Cascais, Portugal.
Best of three sets to 18 points.
Semi final 1: Brazil 1 🇧🇷(Luiz and Mauricio) vs Portugal 1 🇵🇹(Filipe and Beto)
Result: 18-9 and 18-1
Semi final 2: Brasil 2 🇧🇷(Rodrigo and Victor) vs Netherlands 🇳🇱 (Antonio and Marcel)
Result: 18-9 and 18-8
One set to 18 points.
Bronze final: Portugal 1 🇵🇹(Filipe and Beto) vs Netherlands 🇳🇱 (Antonio and Marcel)
Result: 18-11
Three sets to 21-21-18
Final: Brazil 1 🇧🇷(Luiz and Mauricio) vs Brasil 2 🇧🇷(Rodrigo and Victor)
Result: 17 - 21, 21-18 and 18-20
Winners: Brasil 2 🇧🇷(Rodrigo and Victor)
It is also possible to watch the stream right here (or watch all the games): https://mycujoo.tv/video/footvolley-world-challenge
The european foovolley calender 2019
Did you know that the EFVL has an updated tournament calender? We are constantly adding more tournaments into the calender and more will come. This is the only place you have to check to see where you can participate og watch footvolley in the 2019 season.
Did you know that the EFVL has an updated tournament calender? We are constantly adding more tournaments into the calender and more will come. This is the only place you have to check to see where you can participate og watch footvolley in the 2019 season.
The calender can be found on our website as a list view, or you can even view it like a normal calender. If you are just interested footvolley events from a certain country you can also navigate there directly. Right now we have the events posted for Austria 🇦🇹, Netherland 🇳🇱, Israel 🇮🇱 (more coming soon), Italy 🇮🇹, Germany 🇩🇪, Spain 🇪🇸 , Portugal 🇵🇹 and United Kingdom 🇬🇧. More countries and events will be added continuously.
As a minimum for every tournament we put into our calender we add details like:
Where is it?
When is it?
What type of venue is it?
Number of teams (if we know)?
What kind of surface is it (mostly sand, but can also be artificial grass or hard court)?
Who can you contact if you want to play or get in touch with the organizers?
These details are important for players so they have an idea about what tournaments they can play in and also for the fans and sponsors so they know where to go and who to contact.
Help us keep this calender up to date and let us know if you see something wrong in our calender or if you want us to add a tournament that is not listed. You can also fill out a form to make sure you fill out all the information we need.
CONTACT US: footvolleyeurope@gmail.com
FILL OUT FORM: https://footvolleyeurope.com/event-registration
Footvolley, Israel and a prince
Have a look at this nice video about footvolley in Israel. Footvolley keeps growing in Israel and in 2018 they even got a visit from Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge. Keep up the good work in Israel.
Have a look at this nice video about footvolley in Israel. Footvolley keeps growing in Israel and in 2018 they even got a visit from Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge. Keep up the good work!
FlexVirtual International Footvolley Tournament 2019
January 3rd to 6th Footvolley Groningen, Netherland, invites to an international tournament with 40 teams from all around the world.
January 3rd to 6th Footvolley Groningen, Netherland, invites to an international tournament with 40 teams from all around the world.
Footvolley Groningen has a long tradition of hosting a tournament at the beginning of a new footvolley year. 28 mens team will clash together in the indoor arena at Binn’npret and also 12 womens team.
Nations from all around the world is represented: Netherland, Greece, Portugal, France, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Croatia, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Israel, Morocco, Azerbaijan and Peru. The common language is hard work and spectacular rallies.
Mens team
Greece: Yannis Tsiouris & Michalis Mouroutsos
Portugal: Marco Flores and Bruno Flores
France: Adrian Locicero & Steeve Rossi
Austria 3: Alexander Peitler & Stephan Lutz
Italy: Federico Iacopucci & Luca Marcaccini
Austria 1: Nikolaus Hofmann-Wellenhof & Benedikt Hofmann-Wellenhof
Switzerland: Alberto Quintas & Nils Fehr
Croatia: Ivan Maksic & Daniel Buzurovic
Germany: Roman Uhr & Dennis Weber
Belgium: Jochen van Gestel & Bjorn van Gestel
Groningen Allstars: Richard Vennema &
Norway: Alexander Morland Karlsen & Markus Henanger
Sweden: David Nilsson & Marcus Nilsson
Israël 1: Pascal Schmidt & Maor Haas
Morocco: Kabbage Hamid & Baligh Ouach
Azerbaijan: Feyar Huseynov & Namik Iskandarov
International: Weliton Silva (Coquinha) & Klemens Hofmann-Wellenhof
Austria 2: Sascha Wegscheider & Simon Saurugger
Israël 2: Ron Ben Ishay & Oren Zubeari
Amsterdam Allstars: Frank de Boer & Rayan (Rangel de Souza)
Italy Allstars: Max Tonetto & Alain Faccini
Israël 3: Ben-El Cohen & Adiv Shavit
Peru: Giusseppe Mayorga Ramos & Christian Del Carpio Garrido
Holland 1: Antonio Aurino &
Holland 2: Bart Zantman & Martijn ten Duis
Holland 3: Ben Sparenburg & Marcel Birza
Holland 4: Kevin Heuvelink & Stefan Adams
Holland 5: Kaspar Schlebusch & Erik Drenth
Women teams
Sweden 1: Isabel and Rita Rodrigues
Sweden 2: Elin Astrid and Anna Wenger
Norway: Henriette & Pernille Ingvaldsen
Israel 1: Mor Haviv and Hila Havia
Israel 2: Danielle Schulman & Mor Shaked
Germany 1: Carolin Schultze and Rebecca Gabriel
Germany 2: Dana Hillmann and Stefanie Mohr
Holland 1: Nynke Karrenbeld & Evelyn Dobbinga
International: Jorike Olde Loohuis & Thais Castro
Italy: Sara Cupellini & Nicole Tonetto
Austria 1: Eva Rauch & Julia Sauer
Austria 2: Martina Zeiner & Nina Steinbauer
Annual Congress Meeting in Valencia
Once a year all the members of The European Footvolley League (EFVL) meets up to evaluate and plan for the future. This year we are welcomed by Footvolei Valencia and the Spanish Footvolley Federation in the beautiful city of Valencia.
Evaluating 2018
2018 was an exciting year for the EFVL and we had our third European Footvolley Championship, in as many years, in Graz, Austria. We crowned new champions and more players, both men and women, have found their way into our footvolley universe.
The EFVL also added Israel and Sweden as new members in 2018 and we are now 15 different nations in the EFVL footvolley family.
Tournaments
What a year it has been so far, and we are not even finished with 2018. We can look back at an amazing European Championship in Graz, Austria. We have seen great tournaments in Schwäbisch Gmund, as we do every year, and in Greece. Corsica put together a double tournament in both Piana and Ajaccio - and invited international stars from Brazil and Paraguay. France also put together a great tournament in Antibes. Portugal are rocking it with their national ranking tour - in 10 different cities. More and more cities and clubs in Spain are joining the Spanish Footvolley Federation and they also know how to put together great tournaments. Germany have a lot of new and exciting young players that are itching to take on the number 1 team Mo and Joel. Italy sent a lot of new players to tournaments this year and also have some up and coming young players in the mix.
In addition to this we have a lot of national tournaments and national championships. It is also great to see that we are attracting more women and youth to our beautiful sport.
Planning for 2019
One of the big talking points during our stay in Valencia is to decide on the tournament structure for 2019. We hope to share this, and many other news, with you as soon as possible. 2019 will be an exciting year for the EFVL and we are ready to take the next step forward.
France reclaims title as European Champions
France and Portugal have been in the European Footvolley Championship (EFC) finals all three times since it started in 2016, and this year was no exception. However, this year France took the title with a new team - Antoine Ottaviani and Lucien "Lulu" Alessandri. In Graz they proved to be the strongest team.
France and Portugal have been in the European Footvolley Championship (EFC) finals all three times since it started in 2016, and this year was no exception. However, this year France took the title with a new team - Antoine Ottaviani (26) and Lucien "Lulu" Alessandri (20). In Graz they proved to be the strongest team.
The long way through qualification
Antoine and Lulu had to take the long way through the qualification tournament since they lost the French qualification final against 2016 EFC champions Dominique Susini and Anghjulu Maria Plasenzotti - which was held in Corsica earlier this year.
With 15 teams pre qualified for the main tournament there was one more spot up for grabs for the winner of the qualification tournament. This was a high level tournament with a lot of great games and 11 teams. In the end France 2, with Antoine and Lulu, came out as the winners after a spectacular final against Spain 2, with legendary players Pablo Carcelén and Carlos Delgado. They won 18-11 and secured the 16th and final spot in the main tournament.
On the road to the main tournament they played six games and even lost 18-16 against Portugal 3 in the third round. This meant they had to go the extra long way through the losers bracket where they eventually faced Spain 2 in the final.
This meant that Antoine and Lulu had already played 6 games before the main tournament even started. Were they tired? Or was this exactly what they needed to play better as a team?
RESULTS: See all the results from the qualification tournament
TEAMS: See all the teams from the qualification tournament
All photos: Fatlum Kurtaj
Group C for France 2
The draw for the group stage sent France 2 into group C with Spain 1, Italy and Norway. They kept up the momentum and secured three wins. 18-14 against Spain, 18-6 against Norway and 18-14 against Italy. As the winner of group C they would face the runner up from group A which surprisingly was Switzerland - coming out with an important 18-14 win against Netherlands.
Group D for Portugal 1
Portugal 1, with players and reigning champions Nelson Pereira and Miguel Pinheiro, ended up in group C with Germany 1, Croatia and Belgium. Most of us believed this would be an easy win for Portugal, but Germany, with players Mo Obeid and Joel Nißlein, came out flying and beat the Portuguese 18-16 in a surprising win. With Germany as the group winner and Portugal second, the Portuguese they had to take a different route towards the final.
TEAMS: See all the teams from the main tournament
RESULTS: See all the results from the main tournament group stage
Final stage
After the group stage was finished, the draw for the quarter finals was:
Austria 1 vs Spain 1
France 1 vs Portugal 1
France 2 vs Switzerland
Germany 1 vs Portugal 2
Clash of titans
This meant that the finalists from 2016 in Schwäbisch Gmünd and 2017 in Albufeira, France 1 and Portugal 1, faced each other already in the quarter finals. Portugal 1, with Pereira and Pinheiro, took charge in the match and won the first set 18-13 - just to see France 1 win with the same numbers in set number two. A third set to 15 points had to be played to separate the two teams. The final set was very close, but in the end the reigning champions won. France now had to put their faith in Antoine and Lulu.
RESULTS: See all the results from the final stage
The local heroes
The home team Austria - with the brothers Klemens and Jacob Hofmann-Wellenhof - impressed us by reaching yet another quarter final and faced a very good Spanish team - represented by Juan Antonio López Martinez and Sergio Antolinos González. Spain proved to be the stronger side and won 18-11 and 18-15. Austria gave the Spaniards a good fight and the home crowd some very good entertainment.
The Germans flying high
Germany 1 - with Joel Nißlein and Mo Obeid - came into the quarter final full of confidence after beating Portugal 1 in the group stage. Could they continue their run? They faced a strong Portuguese team with players Beto José Correia and Filipe Santos. Portugal 2 took an early lead in both sets and in the end they won 18-12 and 18-10. A disappointment to the ever progressing German team and their fans.
Old vs New
The last quarter final was a clash between old and new. Switzerland - with Nils Fehr and Benedikt Zwyssig - have played footvolley since the 90s. They surprised everyone by winning against Netherlands in the last group stage game - showing that experience takes you a long way in footvolley. They now had to face the new and much younger team, France 2, with Antoine and Lulu. The French took charge right away and won both sets 18-7.
Semi finals
The draw in the semi finals looked like this:
Spain 1 vs Portugal 1
France 2 vs Portugal 2
Neighbours face each other
Two times bronze winners Spain 1 had played solid throughout the tournament, but the first real challenge was now on the opposite side of the court - the reigning champions from Portugal. Juan and Sergio have always been close to reaching the final and had to play at their best to make the dream come true. Nelson and Miguel knew this and took charge in the first set beating the Spaniards 18-8. In the second set Juan and Antolinos came back and played much better. They were neck and neck with the Portuguese all the way to the end - only to lose 19-17.
Portugal with another chance
Portugal has a lot of talent and it is impressive to have two teams reach the semi finals. Could we see a final between two Portuguese teams? The French did not like that idea, but were unable to stop the Portuguese second team winning the first set 18-12. Was this the first sign of fatigue after playing all the games in the qualification tournament? Set number two proved that to be wrong and the French won 18-12 and we had to play a third set to decide the winner. And what a set this was. The teams followed each other all the way to the end, but France proved the stronger team in the end and won 15-12.
Final
Yet again we saw a final between Portugal vs France. Only this time with a new French team. Antoine and Lulu now faced their biggest challenge since forming the team.
Just as we saw in the semi final the French started poorly and lost 18-13. Portugal did what they had to do and showed no sign of weakness. However, Antoine and Lulu had no intention of just giving away the win. They took the long way to the final and it was time to squeeze out the last drop of energy.
In set two the teams changed on having the lead throughout the set. Portugal even had a match point - but were not able to execute. That opened the door and they let the French back in to the game. 20-18 was the score in favor of France.
Portugal was able to taste the win, but let it slip away. In the third set there was no longer any doubt. France won comfortably 15-6 and was crowned the new European Footvolley Champions of 2018. This was extra special because Lucien "Lulu" Allesandri wins the title at the age of 20, the youngest European Footvolley Champion until now and for many years to come we presume.
Afterthought
The European Footvolley League is very proud to be able to crown the European Footvolley Champions for the third consecutive year. The tournament was put together by the amazing guys and girls from Footvolley Austria. The games were held in the middle of the town square in Graz and attracted a big crowd on every game day. The stadium was impressive and the Styrian hospitality is legendary. The live TV broadcast was superb and got picked up by several TV Channels worldwide. Does this taste like more? It does. Stay tuned for the EFVL calendar in 2019.
Watch the European Footvolley League 2017 final from Albufeira, Portugal
Watch the European Footvolley League 2016 final from Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany
EFC finals review
What an amazing day we had with the finals at the European Footvolley Championship in Graz, Austria. High level, spectacular play, amazing players and beautiful weather at an amazing venue. Read about the final games of the tournament right here.
What an amazing day we had with the finals at the European Footvolley Championship in Graz, Austria. High level, spectacular play, amazing players and beautiful weather at an amazing venue. Read about the final games of the tournament right here.
More information will come...
Final - champions of Europe
For the third year in a row we have a final between Portugal and France. The only difference this year is that it is France 2 in the final as the first team met and lost to Portugal in the quarter final.
In the first set Portugal held nothing back and took charge of the game. At the score 15-11 to Portugal the french had to call a time out. Nelson put too many short balls in and the defense had to be adjusted. After the time out we saw a much better defense from the french but Portugal came out of the first set with a 18-13 win.
The second set started with the teams following each other point by point. With the score 6-4 to Portugal Lucien came up with a monster shark attack but this did not scare the portugese and they kept playing solid defense and scoring important points. Still, the french did not give up and the score was still close. At the score 14-12 to the portugese Lucien again came up with a monster shark attack and with Miguel trying to show us how to do a shark block. Lucien came out the winner but landed badly and needed a couple of seconds to recover. Suddenly France was in the lead for the first time in the match at 17-16 and had a set ball - only to waste it with a bad reception. At 17-17 France once again did a mistake and Portugal now had the match ball. The third set ball was awarded to the french with the score 18-17 and then Portugal used their time out to discuss the tactics for the coming points. This did not help and France took the second set 20-18.
In the third set France came out flying and took an early 8-2 lead. Everything the french struggled with in the first two sets were now fixed and they played solid in both defense and attack. With the score 10-3 to France Nelson came up with an incredible save to win the point. Only to get a shark attack from Lucien right back at the next point. After that Portugal could not close the gap and France got match point with the score 14-6. They only needed one try and are now the European Footvolley Champions 2018.
3rd place - three peat or new team on the podium
This is the third year in a row Spain plays for a place on the podium. Two times earlier they have come in third and wants a repeat also here in Graz.
Portugal kept playing the same solid game from the get go with great defense and smart attacks. Spain could not figure out how to defend and lost the first set 18-9.
In the second set Spain had something to prove and started much better this time. They had the lead in the game from start to finish and won the set 18-12.
The game had to be decided in a third and final set and this was as close as it can get as they followed each other from point to point. With the score 10-6 to Spain Filipe Santos had to ask for a medical timeout to take care of a nosebleed. When the game restarted Portugal took control and with the score 12-10 the spanish saw their lead disappear and took a time out to figure out how to get the three last points to secure the win. Portugal kept eating away at the spanish lead and suddenly the score was 13-13. Spain got the first match point after that and only needed one chance when Juanito put the ball securely in the corner.
Congratulations to Spain with yet another podium finish and to Portugal for giving Spain a tough game.
Semi final 1 - the classic
In the first semi final we had a classic matchup between Portugal and Spain - two of the biggest footvolley nations in Europe. They have met in many important matches before but history does not count today - only the win. Portugal, with Nelson Pereira and Miguel Pinheiro, was the favorite against Sergio Antolinos and Juan López in todays match but Spain came prepared to give them a fight.
The game started with solid play from both teams but Portugal slowly pushed away and won the set 18-8. Spain needed the break to reset and came out strong in the second set leading the game all the way up to 15-15 when Portugal finally came in front. After this it was a nail biter and every point was very important to win - and the tension on the court was high. Yet again Portugal proved to be the stronger team and won the second set 2-0. Congratulations to Portugal with the third final in three attempts. Spain now has to play for third place like last year.
Photos: Fatlum Kurtaj
Semi final 2 - the number twos
As we are getting closer to the final the level and the stakes are getting higher. In second semi final we had a matchup between France 2 and Portugal 2. The french second team are now one step further in the competition than the french first team - who lost in the quarter final against Portugal 1. On the other side of the court the second team from Portugal would try to make it an all Portuguese final, but first they had to overcome the new talent from France.
Antoine Ottaviani and Lucien Alessandri have played five more games than the other teams after winning the qualification tournament to clinch the 16th spot in the tournament. This only seems to be to their advantage as they keep playing better and better the further into the tournament we get. Filipe Santos and José Correia (Beto) have played solid throughout the tournament and came ready to give France a run for their money.
The portugese started strong and took command in the first set and won it 18-12. The french had to figure out how to defend against the portugese and did the adjustments they needed in time for the second set. They won by the same score as in the first set, 18-12. The game now had to be decided in a third and final set to 15. The teams followed each other point by point and halfway through it was not easy to say who would come out at the top. In the end the french wanted it more and won the set 15-12.
The quarter finals
Quarter final 1 - a test for the Austrians
The first quarter final of the day was between Austria 1 and Spain. The local players and brothers Klemens Hofmann-Wellenhof and Jakob Hofmann-Wellenhof faced a tough challenge against the consistency of last years third place finisher Sergio Antolinos and Juan López. In the end it was a close second set but Spain came out on top. Prodigy Jacob probably played the game of his life but in the end the Austrians were beaten by the better team. The final score was 18-11 and 18-15 for Spain.
Quarter final 2 - clash of titans
The second quarter final was a clash between last years EFC finalists Portugal 1 and France 1. The portugese players Nelson Pereira and Miguel Pinheiro are always a contender for the title, with a second place in the European Footvolley Championship in 2016 in Schwäbisch Gmünd and a win in 2017 in Albufeira. The french players Susini Dominique and Plasenzotti Anghjulu Maria have played both finals against Portugal and were the winners in 2016 - the first European Footvolley Championship ever. It was a very close game and the lead changed between the teams throughout the whole game. The portugese took the first set with the score 18-15. France needed to figure out how to beat the Portugese. In the second set France came out flying and secured a third set with by winning the set 18-13. In the third set Portugal proved to be the stronger team and won the set 15-13. A close game all the way and the finalist from 2016 and 2017 ends their journey already in the quarter final. Now they have to rely on France 2 to defend the french honor.
Quarter final 3 - the young vs the old
The third quarter final was between the young talents from France against the more experienced pair from Switzerland. Antoine Ottaviani and Lucien Alessandri is an up and coming team from France and they play spectacular footvolley using the whole range of footvolley tricks combined with good stamina, strength and technique. It's worth noticing the attacks from the prodigy Lucien. He is already a crowd favorite. On the other side of the court we have the golden oldies Nils Fehr and Benedikt Zwyssig. The pair probably is the most experienced team in Europe and they have found their way all the way to the quarter finals by playing smart and effective. Nils even showing the young guys how to shark.
In the game the swiss team was no matchup to the french and the final score was 18-7 18-7 in favor of the french. We still hope to see Switzerland in many tournaments to come.
Quarter final 4 - Germany knocking on the semi final door
The last quarter final was between Germany and Portugal 2. Germany surprised everybody with a win over reigning champions Portugal in the group stage. Could they continue the streak of good play? Germany, with shark expert Mo Obeid and partner Joel Nißlein came out flying against Filipe Santos and José Correia (Beto). Mo started the first point with a shark attack but had to take a medical timeout after only two points. The stadium went quiet as Mo held his knee and had to get assistance from the tournament medic. When the game restarted Germany and Portugal followed each other closely in the first set only to see Portugal win 18-12 in the end. In the second set Germany was not able to close the gap and Portugal won comfortably 18-10.
All photos by FatlumKurtaj