Iran get ‘tired’ Tahitians as Brazil will face Russia in Beach Soccer Cup semis [VIDEO]
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Loading...The National – DUBAI, Three-time Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup champions Russia will face the might of South American powerhouse Brazil in the semi-final on Friday after being edged 3-1 by Iran on penalties in a thrilling battle for top spot in Group B on Thursday night.
The Iranians should have won in regulation time, up 3-2 as the match headed into the final 55 seconds, but Alexsey Makarov managed to find the equaliser in those frantic final moments to force the game to three minutes of extra time, and then penalties, where Russia could find the target only once.
The win means Iran, the 2013 champions, will meet Tahiti. The Pacific Islanders were earlier drubbed 10-4 by Brazil in the battle for top spot in Group A, but Angelo Schirinzi, the Tahiti coach, was not complaining.
“I prefer playing Iran because Russia is very strong,” said Schirinzi, whose team faded away after going toe-to-toe in the first two periods of their match against the Brazilians.
Tahiti rallied twice in the second period – first from 0-2 and then from 2-4 to level the scores, but Bruno da Silva, who had opened the scoring for Brazil inside the first 40 seconds of the match, fired in his third of the period, five seconds from the break, to give them a 5-4 lead heading into the final 12 minutes.
In the third period, Da Silva added one more to take his tally for the night to five as the Brazilians took full advantage of the tiring Tahitians.
“The first two periods were really good,” said Schirinzi. “We were 4-4 and then 5-4, but then we were very tired because of the preparations – we had only five days. Other than that, I am very happy.”
Schirinzi warns fatigue is going to be a problem for the Brazilians as well over the coming two days.
“Brazil are a really good team, of course,” he said. “They are very fit, but after three days, four days, it’s going to get difficult for them as well.”
Earlier, the UAE finished their group campaign without a point, losing their final match against Poland 2-0 on penalties after finishing at 2-2 at the end of regulation time.
“I think today we played very well, but we missed so many chances during the game,” said Gustavo Henrique, the UAE coach. “That was the crucial thing for us. We got plenty of space and made the most of it, but we just could not find the target.”
The UAE, however, could still redeem themselves by winning their remaining two matches in the tournament to finish fifth. They will first have to beat Egypt, who finished third in Group B, on Friday in a classification match for the fifth to eighth spots, and then win the fifth-place play-off against the winners of the duel between the USA and Poland.
“I have told the boys, tomorrow we start a new tournament and we want to get fifth place,” Henrique added. “Hope we can win the two matches and finish fifth on Saturday.”
Results
Egypt 5 USA 3
UAE 2 Poland 2 (2-0 pen)
Brazil 10 Tahiti 4
Iran 3 Russia 3 (3-1 pen)
