European Futsal Competition qualifying for Croatia 2012

Cyprus played San Marino in futsal today while Finland took on the Albanians and Israel tried to deal with the Norwegians. Cyprus were well able to deal with the San Marino side, winning 5-2 with goals from Kostas Polyviou and Lambros Vassiliou in the first half to make it 3-1 after San Marino actually opened the scoring through Gabriele Capicchioni in the 4th minute. Manolis Manoli then scored a fourth for the Cypriots before Alex Santi scored an own goal which put Cyprus up 5-1. Luca Della Balda then scored one for San Marino with roughly a minute to go to make the final score 5-2. Israel's game against Norway was also pretty one-sided, with Norway ending the game four goals up with a 7-3 scoreline. Abdurahim Lajaab opened the scoring for the Norwegians in the 5th minute but Oz Sabag equalised for the Israelis in the 9th to make it one all. Norway then had a period of domination where Erik Lundanes Jonvik, Thomas Klaussen and Lajaab each scored one to make it a 4-1 game. Sabag then brought Israel one back with a strike in the 19th to make it 4-2 at the half. Lundanes Jonvik then got the second half started with another goal, this time from a penalty, to make it 5-2. Stian Dagfinn Johnsen then slotted one in for himself to give Norway an even further lead, 6-2. Abdurahim Lajaab then finished his hat-trick, around the 35th, just as Dimitri Shulkin scored one for the Israelis to make the final score 7-3. These two games fail to match the domination which was shown by Finland though, as they demolished Albania 9-0. A hat-trick from Panu Autio contributed to the route but Risto Salmi, Joonas Laurikainen, Jarkko Reinikka, Antti Teittinen, and Mikko Kytölä all made contributions as well, with five goals coming in the first half and another four slotted in during the second half. The Republic of Ireland and Andorra play later today, with Ireland looking the favorites to win. Tomorrow, qualifying for Croatia 2012 continues as Moldova take on the Swiss, Georgia face Estonia, Lithuania welcome Bulgaria, and the Turks will look for a win over Montenegro.