2020 Euro Beach Soccer League

The 2020 Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL) was the 23rd edition of the Euro Beach Soccer League, the annual, premier competition in European beach soccer contested between men's national teams. It is organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW).

2020 Euro Beach Soccer League
Logo of the Superfinal.
Tournament details
Host countryPortugal
Dates2–6 September
Teams5 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions Portugal (7th title)
Runners-up  Switzerland
Third place Ukraine
Fourth place France
Tournament statistics
Matches played10
Goals scored83 (8.3 per match)
2019
2021

The season was greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting a campaign completely unrecognisable to that of recent seasons. Originally due to start in June, the start of the season was postponed until September which ultimately saw the entire regular season cancelled. Therefore, all competing teams were entered straight into their respective divisions' post-season events: nations of Division A into the Superfinal, to compete to become the winners of this year's EBSL, and countries of Division B into the Promotion Final, to try to earn a spot in Division A next year.[1] However, due to travel restrictions caused by the pandemic, many nations chose not to participate,[2] and ultimately no competition concerning Division B took place at all.

Portugal were the defending champions and successfully retained their title, earning their seventh European crown.

Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Initial consequences

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The preliminary 2020 EBSL season schedule was released in November 2019.[3] It was planned that the regular season, taking place during June and July, would consist of five stages of fixtures in Moscow (Russia), Naples (Italy), Nazaré (Portugal), Budapest (Hungary) and one unnamed location.[4]

In March 2020, with the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic increasing rapidly across Europe, Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) announced the suspension of all beach soccer competitions under their auspices until at least June to protect the health of all those involved.[5] In May, with the situation yet to improve, BSWW extended the suspension until September[6] – typically this is the end of the EBSL season. However, in July, with the situation in Europe easing, BSWW announced that the EBSL season would begin in August but with major format changes due to the virus's effect:[1][7]

  • Due to the extreme delay to the start of the season, the entire regular season was cancelled.
  • Only the finals (Superfinal and Promotion Final) were to go ahead; all teams were entered straight into the post-season events (usually only the top eight teams from each division at the end of the regular season enter).
  • The usual format of the post-season events was abandoned to accommodate the different number of participating teams.
  • There was no relegation from Division A (in part, this was a provision for nations in Division A choosing not to participate out of health and safety concerns surrounding the ongoing pandemic – they were not penalised for making this choice).

Calendar and locations

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The original calendar was revealed on 8 July 2020.[1]

Chișinău, Moldova was to host the Promotion Final from 19 to 23 August, whilst Figueira da Foz, Portugal was to host the Superfinal from 1–6 September.[1] Organisers, BSWW, stressed the schedule may be changed depending on the future state of the COVID-19 pandemic;[1] changes were subsequently made:

The local organisers in Figueira da Foz decided to defer hosting until 2021 due to the requirement of having to play their event behind closed doors this year.[8] Later, due to cross-border travel restrictions because of the pandemic, BSWW and the Moldovan Football Federation (FMF) agreed to postpone Chișinău's hosting until 2021 as well.[9]

The Superfinal was rescheduled to take place as follows,[9][2] however the Promotion Final was never rescheduled and thus no competition regarding Division B took place this season:

Phase Dates Country City Stage Divisions
Regular season Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic A B
Post-season/
Finals
2–6 September   Portugal Nazaré Superfinal A
Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic Promotion Final B

Teams

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The numbers in parentheses show the European ranking of each team prior to the start of the season, out of 37 nations.[10]

Division A

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With COVID-19 concerns and restrictions in mind,[11] of the 12 sides in the top tier, just five decided to participate as follows.[2] This made it the first season of the competition not to feature Italy or Spain.

Division B

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None – season cancelled.

Superfinal

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Matches are listed as local time in Nazaré, WEST (UTC+1)

All matches took place at the Estádio do Viveiro on Praia de Nazaré (Nazaré Beach). Due to COVID-19 concerns, the matches were played behind closed doors.[12]

The Superfinal was played in a single round-robin format, involving one group of all five teams. The team with the most points after all games were completed were crowned EBSL champions.[2]

As per the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the competition, no team was relegated to Division B this season.

Results

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Pos Team Pld W W+ WP L GF GA GD Pts Result
1   Portugal (H) 4 4 0 0 0 20 7 +13 12 EBSL Champions (7th title)
2    Switzerland 4 3 0 0 1 26 15 +11 9 Runners-up
3   Ukraine 4 1 0 1 2 14 13 +1 4 Third place
4   France 4 1 0 0 3 9 28 –19 3
5   Germany 4 0 0 0 4 14 20 –6 0

Key: (H) Hosts

Ukraine  3–3  Germany
  • Hoeveler   19' (o.g.)
  • Pashko   24'
  • Voitok   31'
Report
  •   20', 35' Metzler
  •   36' Biermann
Penalties
  • Voitok  
  • Pashko  
  • Shcherytsia  
  • Khyzhniak  
  • Zavorotnyi  
4–3
  •   Meltzer
  •   Baaske
  •   Mutulingam
  •   Nowak
  •   Weirauch
France  0–7  Portugal
Report
  •   10', 11', 28' Leo Martins
  •   14' Von
  •   18' Rui Coimbra
  •   24' Lourenço
  •   26' Belchior

Switzerland  10–2  France
  • Stankovic   2', 26', 35'
  • Mounoud   5'
  • Wuest   11'
  • Ott   12', 14', 25'
  • Hodel   29'
  • Wandji   31'
Report(ru)
  •   10' Huck
  •   15' Belhomme
Portugal  4–1  Germany
  • Bê Martins   12'
  • Bruno Torres   13'
  • Belchior   19'
  • Lourenço   22'
Report(ru)
  •   10' (pen.) Mutulingam

Germany  4–5  France
  • Mutulingam   5' (pen.)
  • Beqiri   25', 35'
  • Metzler   35'
Report(ru)
  •   15' Shillingford
  •   17' Gosselin
  •   23' Belhomme
  •   30' Santos
  •   35' Huck
Ukraine  2–4   Switzerland
  • Zborovskyi   8', 28' (pen.)
Report(ru)

Switzerland  8–6  Germany
  • Wuest   4', 29'
  • Hodel   11', 21', 33'
  • Steinemann   14'
  • Ostgen   15'
  • Hoeveler   20' (o.g.)
Report(ru)
  •   3', 26' (pen.) Biermann
  •   17', 22', 35' (pen.) Beqiri
  •   27' Meltzer
Portugal  4–2  Ukraine
  • Bê Martins   11'
  • Bruno Torres   13'
  • Batalha   20'
  • Leo Martins   30'
Report(ru)
  •   7' Voitenko
  •   27' Voitok

Ukraine  7–2  France
  • Pashko   3', 12', 29'
  • Voitok   21'
  • Zavorotnyi   23'
  • Shcherytsia   28'
  • Voitenko   30'
Report(ru)
  •   10', 33' Gosselin
Portugal  5–4   Switzerland
  • Leo Martins   4', 14', 34'
  • Lourenço   10'
  • Belchior   17'
Report(ru)

Awards

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Winners trophy

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 2020 Euro Beach Soccer League
champions 
 
Portugal
Seventh title

Individual awards

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Top scorer(s)
  Dejan Stankovic
8 goals
Best player
  Leo Martins
Best goalkeeper
  Elinton Andrade

Top scorers

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Players with at least 2 goals

8 goals
7 goals
  •   Leo Martins
5 goals
  •   Glenn Hodel
  •   Valon Beqiri
4 goals
3 goals
  •   Angelo Wuest
  •   André Lourenço
  •   Belchior
  •   Maksym Voitok
  •   Quentin Gosselin
  •   Christian Biermann
2 goals
  •   Eliott Mounoud
  •   Bruno Torres
  •   Bê Martins
  •   Dmytro Voitenko
  •   Sébastien Huck
  •   Stephane Belhomme
  •   Oleg Zborovskyi
  •   Julin Mutulingam

Source

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "The 2020 beach soccer season to begin in August". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d "Euro Beach Soccer League match schedule confirmed". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  3. ^ "Заглянем в будущее! На встрече Season Launch 2020 рассказали, каким будет следующий сезон" (in Russian). Beach Soccer Russia. 11 November 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Что? Где? Когда? Открываем все «чёрные ящики» сезона-2020!" (in Russian). Beach Soccer Russia. 20 January 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  5. ^ "All BSWW-organized competitions postponed until 1st June". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  6. ^ "BSWW to kick off season in September". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 1 May 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  7. ^ "Beach Soccer Talks #10: Season Update". Beach Soccer Worldwide – Facebook. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  8. ^ "Superfinal da Liga Europeia de futebol de praia adiada para 2021". ZeroZero.pt. 4 August 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  9. ^ a b "EBSL Promotion Final moved to Nazaré (1-6 September)". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 18 August 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  10. ^ "OVERALL WORLD RANKING - EUROPE". Beach Soccer Worldwide. March 2020. Archived from the original on 14 February 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  11. ^ The 2020 Euro Beach Soccer League is finally here! Beach Soccer Worldwide. 1 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  12. ^ Devido às contingência implementadas em virtude da COVID-19, as partidas vão realizar-se à porta fechada.. FutebolDePraiaPortugal. 1 September 2020.
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