2003 Euro Beach Soccer League

The 2003 Euro Beach Soccer League, was the sixth edition of the Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL), the premier beach soccer competition contested between European men's national teams, known as the European Pro Beach Soccer League at the time, occurring annually since its establishment in 1998. The league was organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) between July 6 and August 31, 2003 in nine different nations across Europe.

2003 Euro Beach Soccer League
Tournament details
Dates6 June – 30 August
Teams9 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)9 (in 9 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Spain (4th title)
Runners-up France
Third place Portugal
Fourth place  Switzerland
Tournament statistics
Matches played61
Goals scored653 (10.7 per match)
Top scorer(s) Madjer
Best player(s) Ramiro Amarelle
Best goalkeeper Adrian Lingenhag
Locations of the events of the 2003 Euro Beach Soccer League
Division A events
Division B events
Superfinal & Division B event

This was the last time the tournament would be held under the Pro title, as the following season the tournament was renamed and shortened to the Euro Beach Soccer League.

Following the preceding season, BSWW continued organising the nations of the EBSL across two distinct groups based on ability. This season the two groups were renamed as Division A, the top tier group, comprising the best nations of the Europe and Division B, the lower tier group, consisting of teams with lesser ability than those in A; these replaced the Southern and Northern "divisions" established in 2002. Each team competed 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]

Spain, having won three successive titles from 1999 to 2001, successfully reclaimed the title by defeating France in extra-time in the final. This was the fourth European title won by the Spanish. Portugal, who entered as defending champions, lost in the Superfinal semi-finals, ultimately finishing in third place.[2]

The league also doubled as the qualification process for the 2004 Beach Soccer World Championship. The nations finishing in first, second, third and fourth place qualified.[3]

Teams

This season 9 nations took part in the Euro Beach Soccer League whom were and were distributed as follows:

Superfinal berths

There were six 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
The amount of qualification spots available in the Superfinal from each division reflected the abilities of the nations in the respective tiers.

  • Division A, consisting of the best teams of the EBSL, was awarded four Superfinal berths
  • Division B, as the bottom tier, received two berths
# Position in Division Division Round entered
1WinnerASemi-finals
2Runner-up
3Third placeQuarter-finals
4Fourth place
5WinnerB
6Runner-up

Division A

Division A consisted of five rounds of fixtures known as stages, with one stage hosted in each of the five countries participating as shown. Four teams took part in each, with each team taking part in a total of four of the five stages. 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 five stages all results were tallied up in a final league table.

Stage 1

The first stage took place in Estoril, Portugal. The hosts claimed the opening stage of Division A.

Stage 2

The second stage took place in Brighton, England. Portugal won their second stage of the season.

Stage 3

The third stage took place in Marseille, France. Spain won the stage.

Stage 4

The fourth stage took place in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. A second stage victory was claimed by Spain.

Stage 5

The fifth and final stage took place in Palma de Mallorca, Mallorca, Spain. The hosts won their third consecutive stage title of the season.

Final Division A table

The top four Division A teams qualified to the Superfinal, fifth place exited this year's competition. Finishing first and second in the division table earned those teams byes straight into the semi-finals of the Superfinal, whilst finishing in third and fourth qualified those nations to the quarter-finals.

Spain were crowned winners of the division and earned the bye into the Superfinal semi-finals along with runners-up Portugal.

Pos Team Pld W W+ L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Spain 1210027543+3230Advance to Superfinal semi-finals
2 Portugal 128047358+1524
3 France 125166666017Advance to Superfinal quarter-finals
4 Italy 124265556–116
5 England 1200124086–460

Division B

The second tier 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 stage. In every round of fixtures the teams played each other once. The nation who earned the most points at the end of the stage was crowned stage winners.

Germany were originally due to participate and host a stage but ultimately withdrew before the competition began.[4]

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 Stavanger, Norway. The hosts were winners of the event.

Stage 2

The second stage took place in Linz, Austria. Hosts Austria won the event based on their head-to-head record with Switzerland.

Stage 3

The third stage took place in Bern, Switzerland. Norway were crowned stage champions based on their head-to-head record with Belgium.

Stage 4

The fourth and next to last stage took place in Knokke, Belgium. Switzerland claimed the final stage of Division B.

Final Division B table

The top two Division B teams qualified to the Superfinal, entering at the quarter-final stage. The remaining Division B nations exited this season's EBSL.

Switzerland were crowned winners, with runners-up Norway also successfully qualifying for the season-ending event.

Pos Team Pld W W+ L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Switzerland 127146752+1523Advance to Superfinal quarter-finals
2 Norway 125256775–819
3 Belgium 124175656014
4 Austria 123187178–711

Superfinal

Qualified teams

This is a summary of the teams who qualified for the Superfinal.

# Team Division Round entered
1 SpainASemi-finals
2 Portugal
3 FranceQuarter-finals
4 Italy
5  SwitzerlandB
6 Norway

Results

This season the Superfinal was played as a straight knockout tournament. Four of the six teams contesting the title started in the quarter-finals, whilst the top two nations from Division A received a bye and started in the semi-finals. The teams played one match per round until the final when the winner of the 2003 Euro Beach Soccer League was crowned. The losers of the quarter and semi-finals played in consolation matches to determine their final league placements.

Unlike in previous years, Monte Carlo, Monaco was unable to host the event. After also failing to organise the Superfinal in Cannes, France, Knokke, Belgium was finally confirmed as the season-finale hosts, following on from being the venue of the final stage of Division B.[5]

  Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
                           
 Spain 9  
  Switzerland (a.e.t.) 6  
  Switzerland 3  
 Norway 5  
   Spain (a.e.t.) 8
   France 7
 Portugal 6
 France 4  
 France 7  
 Italy 3  
5th place match 3rd place match
 Norway 6   Switzerland 4
 Italy (a.e.t.) 7  Portugal 8

Championship match details
Spain 8–7 (a.e.t.) France
Eloy  2', 10'
J. Salinas  3'
Nico  13', 17',  ?'
Amarelle  13', 24'		 Report  6', 16' Cantona
 12', 26' Sciortino
 24' Jairzinho
 25' Marquet
 33' Bonora
Referee: Pinto Correia (Portugal)

Winners
 2003 Euro Beach Soccer League
Champions 

Spain
Fourth title

Superfinal final standings

Spain beat France in the final to win their fourth Euro Beach Soccer League title and successfully reclaim their crown after losing it to Portugal last year.

Finishing in the top four positions also earned those nations qualification straight into the upcoming World Cup.[3]

Pos Team Notes Qualification
1 SpainEBSL ChampionsQualified to 2004 Beach Soccer World Championship
2 FranceRunners-up
3 PortugalThird place
4  Switzerland
5 Italy
6 Norway

Sources
  1. "Calendar – August 2003". beachsoccer.com. August 2003. Archived from the original on 18 August 2003. Retrieved 13 March 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. "EPBSL 2003 - Superfinal Knokke (BELGIUM)". beachsoccer.com. 30 August 2003. Archived from the original on 12 October 2003. Retrieved 13 March 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. "X MUNDIAL DE BEACH SOCCER: SORTEIO REALIZADO EM SÃO PAULO DEFINE COMPOSIÇÃO DOS GRUPOS" (in Portuguese). beachsoccerbrasil.com.br. 29 January 2004. Archived from the original on September 11, 2004. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  4. "Calendar – June 2003". beachsoccer.com. June 2003. Archived from the original on 18 June 2003. Retrieved 13 March 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. "EPBSL 2003 – Super Final Knokke (BELGIUM)". beachsoccer.com. 13 August 2003. Archived from the original on 2 August 2003. Retrieved 13 March 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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