Iran’s reign as Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup Dubai champions is over after Russia gained revenge for defeat in the 2013 decider during a thrilling semi-final meeting.
The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup winners prevailed by 4-3, an absorbing match seeing the Princes of Persia score a trio of unanswered last-third goals as their opponents grimly held on following the dismissal of influential goalkeeper Andrey Bukhlitskiy.
A packed out Dubai International Marine Club provided the perfect arena as two of the globe’s finest teams battled for a shot at glory in front of a fervent crowd.
Packed stands at Dubai International Marine Club, witnessing a fantastic #beachsoccer extravaganza pic.twitter.com/D3UdcLYMHE
— Matt Monaghan (@mattmonaghan360) November 7, 2014
Mikhail Likhachev’s men will face Brazil today at 20:00 UST after they edged past Portugal 5-3 in an exhibition of stupendous finishing.
The preceding match was an a classic, that came to life towards the death.Yury Krasheninnikov’s sidefoot and Kirill Romanov’s turn-and-shot gave Russia a commanding start. This was added to in the opening minutes of the third frame through Dmitry Shishin’s tap-in and Artur Paporotnyi’s free-kick, which went straight through replacement goalkeeper Hamid Behzadspour.
All hope seemed lost for Iran, a repeat of last November’s 4-3 triumph against the then two-time reigning champions a distant dream.
A foul by Bukhlitskiy – who will miss the final through suspension – swung things towards them, captain Ali Naderi converting the penalty to give hope and make the score 4-2 after Hassan Abdollahi had previously headed home what looked like a consolation.
The Marine Club was rocking when Mohammad Ahmadzadeh’s opportunistic shot somehow squirmed through goalkeeper Maxim Chuzhkov’s legs with three minutes remaining. No matter how hard they tried, however, a leveller could not be found to force extra-time.
A more one-sided semi-final saw Brazil rarely tested, the tight scoreline flattering Portugal.
Anderson’s opener was curled beautifully into the top corner, with Fernando Ddi’s header following a flowing move involving an overhead kick smashing the crossbar.
Sidney shot just inside the post while falling to put the Canarinha 3-1 ahead, Rodrigo unleashed a thunderous drive that left goalkeeper Petrony with no chance and Ddi drove in from distance.
Portugal did not proceed but scored the goal of the night through captain Madjer’s acrobatic side-volley from a throw out. The predatory Nuno Belchior got their first and third, moving to four for the tournament.
Earlier in the day, the UAE registered their first victory of this year’s edition as they prevailed 4-3 against Japan to secure a spot in the fifth/sixth-place play-off.
Captain Ali Karim excelled, scoring two and setting up another. The Whites will face Morocco at 17:30 UST after the Atlas Lions beat United States 7-3.
