Live Update: EFBLU European Cup 3
16 September 2019 /
Eko Grocka win EFBLU European Cup 3
16 September 2019 /
| Eko Grocka, the champions of Serbian Poslovna liga u fudbalu 6+1, made a highly impressive debut in our international tournaments by winning EFBLU European Cup 3 in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv! The third edition of EFBLU's European championship was organized by Football Corporate League and featured 12 teams from 7 countries which competed in Plovdiv's Atrim Arena on 14th and 15th September 2019. In the final, Eko Grocka met with AD Auto Total, the 2-time champions of Romanian Liga Companiilor, and managed to win the game on penalties (5-3) after a 1-1 draw in the regular time. The Romanian team enjoyed a great start of the game as Marius-Cristinel Cărăbuș opened the scoring for them in the 2nd minute. AD Auto Total kept their minimal lead till the 20th minute when Dejan Janković levelled the score. Both teams were not able to score the winner in the remaining ten minutes and the destiny of the cup was decided in a dramatic penalty shootout. Eko Grocka started the campaign with a highly entertaining 8-7 win over one of the representatives of the host league - Liebherr. Serbian forward Miloš Marinković was the star of the game with his 5 goals. He added 7 more in the remaining 5 games of his team to become EFBLU European Cup 3 top goalscorer with 12 goals. The team from Belgrade continued with a 5-3 win over DPZ Impol before losing 6-7 to the local SBTech in the last game of the group stage. In the quarterfinals, Eko Grocka defeated Sport Vision by 3-2 in a highly competitive Serbian derby and followed that with a 6-3 triumph over Hidroconstructia from Bucharest to reach the big final. Silver medalists AD Auto Total were drawn in Group C and started the tournament with a 5-2 win over the tough team of Bobrujsk brewery, the champions of Belarusian KBF. Later, both teams also met in the semifinal and that game ended 4-1. In the second game of the group stage, AD Auto Total suffered their only defeat in Plovdiv - 2-4 against Sport Vision. They bounced back in fantastic style by recording a 12-3 win over the local Hanon Systems in the last match of the group stage. These twelve goals were the most scored by a team in a single game at the tournament. Three of them were hit by the Romanian star Cristian Iordan, who was later voted MVP of EFBLU European Cup 3. In the quarterfinals, AD Auto Total eliminated the Turkish team Roketsan, who received the special "Fair Play Award" at the end of the tournament. The EFBLU European Cup 3 bronze medals went to Bobrujsk brewery who defeated Hidroconstructia by 4-2 in the small final. Yauheni Hrydzin, the goalkeeper of the Belarusian team, was selected as the best player on his position at the tournament. Final standings: 1. Eko Grocka (Belgrade, Serbia) 2. AD Auto Total (Bucharest, Romania) 3. Bobrujsk brewery (Bobrujsk, Belarus) 4. Hidroconstructia (Bucharest, Romania) 5. DPZ Impol (Slovenska Bistrica, Slovenia) 6. ABB Bulgaria (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) 7. Roketsan (Ankara, Turkey) - "Fair Play Award" 8. Sport Vision (Belgrade, Serbia) 9. Hanon Systems (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) 10. SBTech (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) 11. Liebherr (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) 12. PKO Bank Polski (Warsaw, Poland) Individual awards: MVP: Cristian Iordan (AD Auto Total) Top goalscorer: Miloš Marinković (Eko Grocka) - 12 goals Best goalkeeper: Yauheni Hrydzin (Bobrujsk brewery) |      |
