Bardal basks in Vegakameratene victory
Thursday, August 18, 2011
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Vegakameratene have become the first Norwegian side to progress in the UEFA Futsal Cup and coach Kai Bardal told UEFA.com: "To have won against such strong teams is incredible."
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Vegakameratene made a stunning debut in the UEFA Futsal Cup this week – and coach Kai Bardal is enjoying their preliminary round success.
The Norwegian champions secured progress from Group D with a match to spare after beating Bulgarian hosts MFC Varna 5-3 and Denmark's BGA Futsal 3-2, before rounding off a perfect campaign with a 4-1 win against Icelandic side Fjölnir. That takes them into main round Group 4 next month against Czech competition regulars FK EP Chrudim, Polish hosts Akademia FC Pniewy and Belgium's MFC Real Chatelineau.
"I am absolutely delighted with our performances during the tournament," Bardal told UEFA.com. "We wanted to do as well as possible, but to have won against such strong teams as MFK Varna and BGA Futsal is incredible. The players really gave their best and I am really proud."
Trondheim-based Vegakameratene took their first Norwegian title by 15 points last term, having just been pipped a year earlier by KFUM Oslo, who missed out in the 2010/11 UEFA Futsal Cup preliminary round on goal difference. Now in the third season since Norway first entered a side, Vegakameratene have gone through, and Bardal said: "This is our debut in this tournament and reaching the next stage is a tremendous achievement. Now we will enjoy the moment and then start work even harder as our next opponents will be even stronger."