Courtesy: FIFA.com


Assis fires Italy into quarters, eliminates Egypt

A Saad Assis hat-trick inspired Italy to a 5-1 win over a Egypt and a place in the FIFA Futsal World Cup quarter-finals. Roberto Menichelli’s men will now do battle with Portugal on Wednesday for a place in the last four.

Egypt started brightly, but they found themselves at a deficit after just four minutes. Following a nice passing move, the ball ended up at the feet of Assis, who dispatched a powerful shot.

The Africans were back on level terms on 11 minutes, when Ahmed Abou Serie somehow found the back of the net from an acute angle.

However, Italy instantly restored their lead, with Assis in the right place at the right time to tap home. On the stroke of half-time, Jairo Dos Santos made it 3-1 with a delightful chip over goalkeeper Hema.

The Egyptians came out fighting in the second half, but they struggled to create meaningful chances against a resolute Italian defence.

The Europeans then put the game out of their opponents’ reach with two goals inside two minutes midway through the half. First, Assis completed his treble with a fierce shot, and then Rodolfo Fortino made it 5-1 after Egypt failed to clear their lines.

That’s how it finished, enhancing Italy’s status as one of the favourites for gold.

The quotes
“If you look at the scoreline it might look like it was an easy match for us, but it wasn’t. After we conceded the equaliser we scored a quick goal and it was decisive for us as it was important to regain the lead at that stage. Egypt are a good team and they have some quality players who forced us to defend at certain stages of the game,"
Roberto Menichelli, Italy coach.

“We conceded goals today due to silly mistakes by our players. Conceding a quick goal just after getting the equaliser affected the mentality of the players. We had some chances to score tonight but the players were unlucky in those situations,”
Badr Khalil, Egypt coach.





Courtesy: FIFA.com


Russia beat Czechs to set up Spain clash

Russia have beaten Czech Republic 3-0 at the Huamark Indoor Stadium in Bangkok to set up a mouth-watering quarter-final duel with Spain.

The eastern Europeans were a class above their continental rivals and, as well as continuing their fine form from the group stage, extended to four matches their run of successive clean sheets.

Sergey Skorovich’s side took a grip of the match from the first whistle and missed a succession of early chances, with Sergey Sergeev firing into the side-netting, Pula blasting over with the keeper stranded and Eder Lima hitting the post from close range.

However, the Czech goal could only live a charmed life for so long, and in seven minutes Eder Lima opened the scoring with his ninth goal of the tournament, popping up at the back post to finish off good approach play by Pavel Chistopolov and Alexander Fukin.

Just three more minutes had elapsed when Pula finished off a similar move, which culminated in Sirilo crossing for his Dinamo Moscow team-mate to volley home. The worry at this stage was that the floodgates would opens but the Czechs, to their credit, regained their composure and even threatened on a couple of occasions at the other end as half-time approached.

Russia always looked the more likely to add to the scoring though, and nine minutes into the second half they did just that. This time, Pula returned the favour to Sirilo, feeding his club and international colleague to curl a superb left-foot shot off inside of Libor Gercak’s right-hand post.

The quotes
“Like any coach, I’m always happy when my team doesn’t concede. But although we have got another clean sheet today and I’m happy about that, the main thing was to win the game. That’s always our main goal. The quarter-final against Spain is going to be a very tough game for both teams and the fact it’s a repeat of the EURO final makes it especially interesting. Both teams will be very determined to win but Spain will be the favourites to win as they are the European champions and one of the best teams in the world,”
Sergey Skorovich, Russia coach.

“Russia are a very strong team and, for me, the number one candidate to win this World Cup. But we played very well against them in the second half, and the only pity was that we couldn’t take the chances we created. Maybe we need more shooting practice because that’s an area that has really let us down at this competition,”
Tomas Neumann, Czech Republic coach.





Courtesy: FIFA.com


Brazil blast sixteen past Panama

Brazil booked their place in the quarter-finals of the FIFA Futsal World Cup and maintained their 100 per cent record at the tournament with an eviscerating 16-0 victory over Panama in Nakhon Ratchasima.

Having squeezed through from Group B in third place, Panama found the Brazilians to be on another level and had no answer, with the victors now set to face Argentina in the last eight.

Fernandinho put Brazil in front within four minutes of play, which opened the floodgates for a further seven strikes to find the back of the net before the break.

The second period proved a carbon copy of the first, Panama defending but Brazil bagging eight goals, with both Je and Ari claiming hat-tricks while Fernandinho, Rodrigo and Rafael each helped themselves to doubles.

The icing on the cake for Marcos Sorato’s side came with the return from injury of Falcao, who after receiving an ovation from the supporters in attendance wasted little time in adding his name to the scoresheet.

The quotes
“Brazil showed a lot of respect for Panamá by playing seriously from beginning to end. I know Falcao is not 100 per cent fit yet, but the idea top play him today was for him to regain rhythm and lose any fears he still has over his injury. We can say it was a good day all around for us,"
Marcos Sorato, Brazil coach.

“I can’t say we are happy because of the way we lost, but of course we are leaving Thailand very satisfied. We arrived here with the aim of competing, and we proved we could do that. These players lived a dream by playing the defending champions and this will be an invaluable experience for them,"
Agustín Campuzano, Panama coach.





Courtesy: FIFA.com


Serbians sunk by clinical Argentina

Argentina have set up a quarter-final meeting with old foes Brazil after edging Serbia 2-1 in a tense last 16 encounter at Bangkok’s Huamark Stadium. The Europeans dominated much of the match but an Albiceleste side weakened by injuries and suspensions advanced by virtue of making the most of the few chances they did create.

In a game in which defences were dominant, it always looked like needing something special to break the deadlock, and Leandro Cuzzolino provided it with 11 minutes played. Danger appeared minimal when he gathered possession wide on the left, but with the Serbia defence backing off, Argentina’s No7 hammered an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net.

Serbia reacted well to falling behind and surged forward but six minutes later, and completely against the run of play, they found themselves two goals behind. Worse still, the goal was a due to a horrible error by Miodrag Aksentijevic, who allowed a cross-cum-shot from Maximiliano Rescia to slip through his legs and trickle over the line.

The European debutants continued to probe for a way back into the match in the second half, and with three minutes remaining they pulled a goal back when Slobodan Rajcevic shot home from the edge of the box. However, a second yellow card for Slobodan Jancic late in the match effectively ended any hopes the Serbians had of pushing for a late equaliser.

The quotes
“We conceded two very easy goals and that set the pattern for the match. We had to work very hard to come back after that and we didn’t enjoy much luck. We had lot of shots on goal, most of the possession, but Argentina defended very well. All the same, it’s been a great experience for us and I’m realistic enough to appreciated that we have already been successful in qualifying for this tournament and then finishing first in our group. We were very close to taking the next step but this time it wasn’t to be,”
Aca Kovacevic, Serbia coach.

“My players deserve the congratulations for this victory. It was the kind of game in which we could not afford any mistakes, and I was very happy with the standard of our defending. We also took our chances well when they came along. We were missing three important players but the players realised they had no option but to cope. Now we face Brazil, and we’re going to play for a win,”
Fernando Larranaga, Argentina coach.





Courtesy: FIFA.com


Favourites march on

Monday 12 November 2012

The favourites had their way on the second day of the last 16 at the FIFA Futsal World Cup Thailand 2012. Brazil, Argentina, Italy and Russia all made it through to set up a purely European and South American quarter-final line-up.

Brazil laid down their marker with an thumping 16-0 victory over Panama and now face a continental showdown against archrivals Argentina.

Spectators in Bangkok can look forward to a further mouthwatering tie between European titans Spain and Russia in a repeat of this year’s UEFA European Championship final. The eastern Europeans beat Czech Republic and advanced to the next round with an unblemished record, as they are still to concede a goal at the tournament.

Italy had little trouble defeating Egypt, while Argentina were given a rougher ride in a thrilling evening encounter against Serbia, but also ultimately went through.

Results
Italy 5-1 Egypt
Brazil 16-0 Panama
Russia 3-0 Czech Republic
Serbia 1-2 Argentina

Goal of the day
Italy - Egypt, 3-1, Jairo dos Santos, 19’03”
Italy’s Saad Assis may have earned the plaudits for his hat-trick against Egypt, but the honour of best goal goes to his teammate Jairo dos Santos. Just before half time, Gabriel Lima received the ball on the left flank in his own half. Off-balance and falling over, Lima nonetheless managed to play an inch-perfect pass into dos Santos’ path, who lobbed the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper into the empty net.

Memorable moments

The superstar is back
After watching three games from the sidelines having picked up an injury in his country’s opener against Japan, Brazilian star Falcao returned to the action in the last 16 against Panama. The spectators welcomed him with a standing ovation when he was brought on and he quickly showed his extraordinary ability with his first few touches. The forward’s goal to make it 14-0 crowned his comeback, and fans can now look forward to seeing plenty more of him in the quarter-final against Argentina.

For Mati
When Argentina’s Leandro Cuzzolino opened the scoring against Serbia, he ran straight to the nearest television camera and signalled the number three with his fingers, while shouting into the lens, “Mati, that one’s for you.” His intended recipient was teammate Matias Lucuix, who suffered a double leg break in the game against Australia. Argentina dedicated the victory over Serbia and their qualification into the last eight to their injured colleague.

No way through
Russia’s goalkeeper Gustavo is well on the way to setting a new record. He has not conceded a goal in 160 minutes of play, taking him to third place in the all-time list, behind only Spain’s Luis Amado (208 minutes in 2000 and 2004) and Brazil’s Tiago (187 minutes in 2008). Gustavo needs just 18 more minutes to overtake the latter, but would need to reach the semi-finals unbeaten in order to break the record. It will be a tough task, as no less an opponent than European champions Spain stand in Russia’s way.

Stat of the day
300 - The match between Argentina and Serbia in Bangkok’s Huamark Indoor Stadium marked a milestone in the history of the FIFA Futsal World Cup, as it was the tournament’s 300th game. It was also the first time the two teams had faced each other at the competition, having only previously met twice in friendly fixtures.

The words
“These players are living a dream, as they played against both the reigning world champions and the runners-up [from Brazil 2008]. That’s a priceless experience for them,” Agustin Campuzano, Panama coach.

Next up
Wednesday 14 November2012 (all in local time)
Argentina-Brazil 16:00
Colombia-Ukraine 18:30
Portugal-Italy 18:30
Spain-Russia 21:00







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