Courtesy: FIFA.com


Debutants Colombia fall to Guatemala

Guatemala have made the perfect start to their Thailand 2012 campaign with a 5-2 win over FIFA Futsal World Cup first-timers Colombia. The Central Americans were too strong for the debutants at Bangkok’s Nimibutr Stadium and immediately moved to the top of Group F, in which Russia and the Solomon Islands will play later.

Although Guatemala were always the more attacking of the two teams, Colombia posed problems on the counter-attack and took the lead in seven minutes when Alejandro Serna scored their first-ever FIFA Futsal World Cup goal with a low shot from Yefri Duque’s pass. Guatemala leveled on the 12-minute mark though, with a clever team move capped by an intelligent lob by Estuardo De Leon to set up Jose Gonzalez to knock the ball home from close range.

Colombia went into the half-time break with their advantage restored thanks to Andres Reyes’ long-range shot, but the Guatemalans moved up a gear in the second half and ultimately ran out comfortable winners. The turning point was a well-struck equaliser from Andres Armando Escobar on 28 minutes, which led to a 2-1 deficit being turned into a 4-2 lead inside three minutes.

Alan Aguilar put Guatemala in front for the first time with a penalty kick shortly afterwards, while some neat interplay between Walter Enriquez and Erick Acevedo set up the latter to double their advantage with over eight minutes still remaining. That was plenty of time for icing to be added to the victors' cake, with Acevedo repaying the favour to Enriquez with an incisive assist matched by his team-mate’s composed finish.

The quotes
"We were surprised by twice being behind, but this team has experience of responding to difficult situations. Today we improved as the game went on. We expected to win and we achieved our aim, so it has been a good start,"
Carlos Merida, Guatemala goalkeeper.

“It was as tough match, as we expected. It is a shame we were not able to take advantage of being twice ahead, but that tells you about how young this team is. Losing your concentration at this level is fatal; we gave Colombia hope and they were lethal. We have two more finals ahead and we still believe we can go through,"
Areny Fonnegra, Colombia coach.



Courtesy: FIFA.com


Russia run riot against brave Solomons

Russia didn’t come close to matching the 31-2 victory they recorded over Solomon Islands in the 2008 finals, but they did get their FIFA Futsal World Cup campaign off to an emphatic start with a 16-0 victory over the same opponents.

Sergey Skorovich’s team put together some engrossing moves in the first half, with the invention of Robinho and five goals from Eder Lima helping them establish an 8-0 lead to take in at the interval.

Russia repeated the feat – scoring eight goals without reply – in the second half. Eder Lima finished up with seven goals on his FIFA Futsal World Cup debut, while Sergey Sergeev and Alexander Fukin both netting braces.

To the Solomons’ credit, they did not stop striving to get on the score-sheet until the final whistle, but they found Russia goalkeeper Gustavo in fine form.

The result took Russia top of Group F, above Guatemala, whom they face next, on goal difference.

The quotes
"My players did not need me to tell them anything to keep them concentrated, and they played with full force from the beginning to the end. Now we will start thinking about Guatemala, a completely different kind of opponent who will give us a much tougher match,"
Sergey Skorovich, Russia coach.

“Our concentration wasn’t the best and we were not able to execute our game plan, which was to control the ball a bit more. At least my player fought until the end, because they did not want to repeat the result from four years ago. Now we need to wake up and learn from our mistakes,"
Dickson Kadau, Solomon Islands coach.




Courtesy: FIFA.com


Czechs edge Kuwait

Czech Republic have taken the early initiative in Group E at the FIFA Futsal World Cup, surviving a late rally from Kuwait to win 3-2 at Bangkok’s Huamark Indoor Stadium. Goals from Marek Kopecky, Michal Belej and Tomas Koudelka gave the Europeans a hard-fought victory over their enthusiastic opponents, which leaves them top of a section in which Egypt and Serbia meet this evening.

The Czechs enjoyed the better of the chances throughout, but this was a low-scoring affair by futsal standards, with just one goal separating the sides at half-time. It arrived after five minutes courtesy of Kopecky, with the veteran Czech star bursting through on the left and firing in a first-time shot that flew through the legs of Hani Mhisen on its way into the net.

Kuwait had their moments at the other end, but it was the men in red who always looked more likely to add to the scoreline and, sure enough, a second goal arrived three minutes into the second half. This time, it was an opportunist effort from Belej, who nipped in to poke the ball over the line after Abdulraham Alwadi made the mistake of attempting to control Jan Janovsky’s cross rather than clear first time.

Koudelka then made it 3-0 from close range, although that was the signal for Kuwait to go for broke and stage a surprising late comeback. Hamad Al Awadhi sparked the late drama by prodding home from the edge of the box to finish off a terrific breakaway, and Czech keeper Libor Gercak increased the excitement by allowing a harmless looking shot from Abdulrahman Altawail to slip through his legs and trickle over the line.

The quotes
“We had watched Kuwait two or three times on DVD, so we knew how they would approach the game. It was a very difficult match but in the end we did enough to win.”
Libor Gercak, Czech Republic goalkeeper

“I thought that Kuwait were the better of the two teams, but the Czechs succeeded because their players are more experienced. All of their goals came from our mistakes. But I am happy with the attitude and work-rate of my players, and we will go into our next match against Serbia with the same mentality.”
Luis Fonseca, Kuwait coach.



Courtesy: FIFA.com


Pharaohs fall to Serbia defeat

Serbia rounded off a good day for Group E’s European hopefuls with a 3-1 win over Egypt that leaves them top of the section, just ahead of Czech Republic on goal difference.

In a tight, defence-dominated match at Bangkok’s Huamark Indoor Stadium, goals from Vadin Bojovic, Slobodan Jancic and Mladen Kocic secured the points and left the Pharaohs needing a positive result in their next match against the Czechs.

The first half produced little in the way of incident, with Serbia recovering from a poor start to create the best of the chances, Bojovic hitting the post in one particularly dangerous attack. The bustling No13 was back for more three minutes into the second half though, and this time the outcome was his country’s first goal at the FIFA Futsal World Cup. Egypt, however, will curse themselves for allowing Bojovic to sneak in unnoticed at a corner and sweep home Bojan Pavicevic’s cross from all of one yard.

The Pharaohs pushed for an equaliser but lacked imagination in the final third and were punished again three minutes from time when Jancic scored from the penalty spot after a foul by Mizo. Kocic then increased the deficit from the penalty spot, although Ahmed Mohamed pulled a goal back in the final minute with a superb left-foot shot from a seemingly impossible angle.

The quotes
“The first match was always going to be difficult for us. I think we played a good match but Egypt is also strong a team with a lot of good individuals. Our defence played very strongly,”
Aca Kovacevic, Serbia coach.

“I felt we were very unlucky in this match. I still feel that we are a strong team and that we are good enough to qualify by beating both Kuwait and the Czech Republic,”
Badr Khalil, Egypt coach.




Courtesy: FIFA.com


Joy and pain for futsal first-timers

Saturday 3 November 2012

Tournament dark horses Russia got their Group F campaign at the FIFA Futsal World Cup off to the perfect start with a 16-0 hammering of Solomon Islands. There was also bad news for debutants Colombia who, despite leading 2-1 at the break, conceded four second-half goals and all three points to Guatemala.

In Group E, Czech Republic were made to sweat for their victory over Kuwait. Coach Tomas Neumann's men were cruising 3-0 before the Asians fought back with two goals in the closing minutes. Nevertheless, the Europeans managed to hold on for a valuable win. In the group's other game, tournament newcomers Serbia surprised African heavyweights Egypt with a 3-1 triumph.

Results
Guatemala 5-2 Colombia
Russia 16-0 Solomon Islands
Czech Republic 3-2 Kuwait
Egypt 1-3 Serbia

Goal of the day
Guatemala-Colombia, 1-1, Jose Gonzalez, 12'00"
Guatemala's goal to make it 1-1 against Colombia was a shining example of why futsal is so popular. Alan Aguilar drove forward in midfield before finding team-mate Estuardo de Leon in Colombia's area. Showing remarkable speed of thought upon seeing Cafeteros goalkeeper Juan Lozano rushing out, De Leon flicked the ball over the custodian to Jose Gonzalez, who had no trouble in volleying home from close range.

Memorable moments
Vocal Kuwaitis
When the Kuwaiti national anthem was played before their match against Czech Republic, there was wide-eyed admiration around the Indoor Stadium Huamark in Bangkok, as all 14 of the Asians' players, as well as the entire technical staff, passionately sang an-Naschid al-Watani. With their eyes fixed on their country's flag, captain Aman Salem and Co fervently recited the words, penned by the poet Ahmad Meschari al-Adwani.

Dream debut for Eder Lima
Russia forward Eder Lima could not have hoped for a better debut at a FIFA Futsal World Cup. Not only did his team beat Solomon Islands 16-0, but the 28-year-old netted seven times. His impressive haul has inevitably taken him to the top of the tournament's goalscorer charts.

One for the history books
For Alejandro Serna and Vidan Bojovic, the date 3 November 2012 will be forever etched in their memories. Both players scored their country's first ever goal at a FIFA Futsal World Cup, for Colombia and Serbia respectively. While Serna was left licking his wounds following a defeat, the diminutive Bojovic's strike helped Serbia on their way to three crucial points.

Stat of the day
1,800 - When Armando Escobar scored Guatemala's second to pull level at 2-2 against Colombia, it not only marked the match's turning point in favour of the Central Americans - it was also a milestone in the tournament's history. The Guatemalan's strike was the 1,800th to be scored since the competition began.

The words
"Our concentration wasn't the best. Nevertheless, my players fought until the end because they didn't want a repeat of the result four years ago (31-2),"
Dickson Kadau, Solomon Islands coach.

Next up
Sunday 4 November 2012 (All kick-off times are local)
Group A
Paraguay - Costa Rica (17.00)
Thailand - Ukraine (19.00)

Group C
Portugal - Japan (19.00)
Brazil - Libya (21.00)






Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com