Estonia beach soccer team lose narrowly to Germany

Estonia’s beach soccer team ended the Euro League group stage with a 3-2 defeat by Germany on Friday, ERR reported.

Estonia started the match actively and created several dangerous chances through Andreas Kallaste and Kristian Marmor, but Germany’s goalkeeper kept them out. Germany opened the scoring with a long-range shot nine seconds before the end of the first third.

Estonia equalised late in the second third. Marmor hit both posts with a long-range effort, and Kristen Saarts reached the rebound and scored after a battle for the ball.

Germany regained the lead in the 27th minute with an excellent attacking move. Less than 30 seconds later, Germany extended its advantage to two goals after Estonia’s attack broke down and its defence failed to recover.

Estonia reduced the deficit in the 33rd minute through another Marmor and Saarts combination. Marmor sent the ball from a corner to Saarts, who finished accurately in front of goal.

Estonia had one final chance to equalise and send the match into extra time, but the shot went over the goal in the last second.

Estonia finished fourth in a group also containing Germany, Denmark and Ukraine. The team lost all three matches, going down 2-3 to Germany, 2-6 to Denmark and 1-5 to Ukraine.

The top two teams in the group advance to the semi-finals on August 1 and 2. The other two teams, including Estonia, will continue in placement matches. The fixtures and kick-off times will be announced after Friday’s competition day.