UAE stun Spain to keep Beach Soccer hopes alive
Brazil assured of a spot in semi-finals after thumping 10-5 win over Egypt
Brazil became the first team to assure themselves a spot in the last four with a 10-5 thrashing of Egypt, while the UAE bounced back for a 5-4 win against formidable Spain and stay alive on the second day of the Huawei Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup Dubai at Kite Beach Jumeirah.
Easy 5-2 winners against Spain on the opening day, Brazil made merry against the Pharoahs for maximum points and ensure a spot in tomorrow’s knockout semi-finals.
Following their 3-1 disappointment against Egypt on Tuesday, the UAE rebounded in style with a convincing victory against European champions Spain in the day’s second match.
The result means the hosts still remain in the hunt for the second spot for the last four stages from Group A along with Spain and Egypt, with all depending on the last group matches today.
“We need a win against Brazil on Thursday. We take a lot of confidence from this win against Spain, but we will have to really fight hard for the three points to get into the semi-finals,” two-goal hero Ahmad Beshir told Gulf News. “We need to focus on our next task and that is to defeat world champions Brazil,” he added.
Down to a first-minute goal from Llorenc Gomez, the UAE fought back to equalise through Hisham Muntasir to go in level at the end of the opening period. In the second, Beshir scored two quick goals and Muntasir got his brace while Ali Mohammad also found the net to make it 5-1.
Spain fought back in the third period with goals from Antonio Jose Mayor and a freekick from Gomez to draw near. Javier Torres Molina then made his height count and the hosts were with their backs to the wall defending the narrowest of leads. But they hung on for the final two minutes.
In the earlier match, Brazil hit man Igor Matheus Melo Rangel scored a hat-trick, while Rodrigo Soares Da Costa got a brace and another five contributed one goal each.