Courtesy: Fox News Latino


Iran tops Portugal on penalties to win bronze at Futsal World Cup

October 01, 2016

CALI – Iran rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat Portugal on penalties here Saturday and claim the bronze medal in the Futsal World Cup.

Mahdi Javid scored the winning goal for the Iranians at Coliseo El Pueblo in this southwestern Colombia city, while Ali Hassan Zadeh, Hossein Tayebi and Afshin Kazemi also scored in their 4-3 victory in the penalty shootout.

After a scoreless first 20 minutes, Cardinal scored twice for Portugal in just a matter of seconds at the start of the second half.

But the momentum shifted after Portugal's Miguel Castro and Iran's Mohammadreza Sangsefidi were both sent off for their part in a brawl in the 24th minute, two minutes before the Persian nation pegged one back with a goal by Kazemi.

Javid then scored the equalizer on a penalty with just four minutes remaining, and Iran then clinched victory in the penalty shootout to cap off its surprising run at this year's Futsal World Cup.

The result was a big disappointment for Portugal, which came in to the tournament as one of the co-favorites along with Brazil and Spain but - like those other two teams - finished without a medal.

Saturday afternoon's final pits Argentina against Russia.


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