Courtesy: Fox News Latino


Argentina routs favored Portugal to reach Futsal World Cup final

September 29, 2016

CALI – Argentina raced out to an early lead and then effectively managed the clock in the second half to defeat favored Portugal 5-2 and advance to a showdown against Russia in the Futsal World Cup final.

Diego Giustozzi's men dominated the action over the first 20 minutes, with Cristian Borruto opening the scoring four minutes in and Damian Stazzone, Alamiro Vaporaki and Alan Brandi also tallying goals.

Borruto's goal came when he lofted a pass to himself over the head of Portuguese goalkeeper Bebe and then tapped the ball into an empty net.

Re knotted the match at 1-1 with a score in the eighth minute off a pass from Bruno Coelho, but Argentina then reeled off three goals in as many minutes to go ahead for good.

Argentina's defense put the clamps on Portuguese superstar forward Ricardinho, while Bruno Coelho, Andre and Cardinal were all largely ineffective during Wednesday night's semifinal at Coliseo El Pueblo in this southwestern city.

In the second half, Argentina was content to let the time tick away and focus on containing Portugal, which fruitlessly fired away from both long and short range.

The only two second-half goals came in rapid succession, with Leandro Cuzzolino making the score 5-1 in the 36th minute before Tiago Brito pegged one back for Portugal 90 seconds later.

Portugal was left to lament the disappearance of its previously stingy defense, which had allowed just four goals in the tournament prior to Wednesday.

"When we tied, we thought that everything was done, but there was a lot of playing ahead. We missed a lot of opportunities and gave away three goals. When you do that in a semifinal, most of the time, you will lose," head coach Jorge Braz said afterward.

Argentina advanced to the final with a narrow win over Ukraine in the round of 16 and then convincing victories over Egypt and Portugal.

Whoever comes out on top in Saturday afternoon's final will become just the third champion of a Futsal World Cup, a tournament dominated in past years by five-time winner Brazil and two-time victor Spain.

The third-place match, which will also be played on Saturday afternoon, will pit Portugal against Iran.



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