Wrapping up the Futsal European Championship: 2/8/2014.

Scenes of jubilation were common throughout a tense Final match of the Futsal European Championship. But let's take a step back to the Semi-Finals where Portugal faced Italy and Russia took on Spain. In the first of the two, the Portuguese put up a good fight against the Italians. While Gabriel Lima put the Italians in the lead before the end of the first minute, Ricardinho and Arnaldo Pereira struck once each for the Iberians to make it 2-1. Romano equalized in the 22nd minute for the Italians before Gabriel Lima struck his second and Fortino made it 2-4 by the 34th minute. Despite the Portuguese getting the last goal in the 34th minute, making it 3-4, Joel Queiros' goal made for an exhilarating final few minutes but it was to no avail as the Italians booked their Final ticket leaving Portugal to contest the third place spot with the loser of the Russia-Spain match. Over to the other Semi-Final now, the Spaniards got off to a fine start with the opening goal in the 16th minute through Pola. However, Russia reacted powerfully with Sergeev and Lyskov making it 2-1 in the 22nd and 26th minutes respectively. Rafael Usin brought the Iberians level in the 26th minute though Fukin kept the eastern Europeans in the lead before the 26th minute had run out. Nevertheless, Miguelin brought the sides level 3-3 in the 37th minute. Keeping the sides level for the last three minutes of regulation time, one five minute period of extra time went by without a breakthrough. Finally, in the second period of extra time, Robinho struck the Russians ahead in the 48th minute meaning they just had to hold the line for two minutes. Despite intense pressure, they were able to do just that, pitting them against Italy in the Final while Spain and Portugal faced off in the 3rd Place match. As for that match for third, Portugal and Spain treated the world to a feast of football: Fernandao, Jose Ruiz, and Lozano struck for Spain three times before the 7th minute, making it 0-3 for the Spaniards. Ricardinho and Pedro Cary gave the Portuguese a chance with two goals before the twelfth minute though two more goals - from Miguelin and Rafael Usin - secured Spain's victory. 2-5, Raul Campos struck in the 19th minute for Spain before Pedro Costa and Joel Queiros made it 4-6. To add insult to injury, the defending futsal world champions struck twice more, through Fernandao and Pola, making the third-place match the highest-scoring in the competition's history! As for the Final, Italy and Russia gave us a tremendous contest with Gabriel Lima putting the southern Europeans in the lead for a little over three minutes until Eder Lima equalized in the ninth minute. The match could well have gone either way, but it was the Italians who pushed on to victory, striking twice between the 13th and 18th minutes through Murilo and Giasson to take a firm lead before the halftime break. Despite 42 efforts, 9 more than the Italians, the Russians were unable to crack Italy's defenses and in fact lost Cirilo to a second yellow card in the 33rd minute making the last seven minutes of the game a rubber stamp as the southern Europeans won their first title since 2003. Hope you enjoyed the matches!

Beach Soccer World Cup in Tahiti - 2013

Well some of you may not have heard about the championships taking place up until the 28th of September but the Beach Soccer World Cup was positively riveting. All the big names were there - Spain, Brazil, and Argentina for instance - but also hosts Tahiti and smaller soccer powers such as Japan, Iran, and El Salvador. To sum up: it made for a great contest with Russia making it through the Quarter- and Semi-Finals with a total of 11 goals, allowing 8, before they met Spain in the Final. Somewhat surprisingly, the Russians went on to dominate the Spaniards with a 2nd period performance that ended 1-3 after an opening period that saw several opportunities but no goals. The Russians proceeded to only cement their lead with 2 more goals in the 3rd period making it a 5-1 scoreline as the final whistle blew - horrible for a Spanish side that had edged the likes of El Salvador and Brazil on their way to the Final. Brazil's 4-3 encounter with Japan was also entertaining though I have to admit that I was cheering for the Japanese by the end of it! Tahiti's 6-1 destruction of Argentina in the Quarter-Finals was the largest blow-out in the finals competition with the South Americans completely falling apart in the 3rd period of the game - allowing 5 goals. The fact that they were only beaten by the eventual winners and lost to Brazil on penalties points to a great potential future for the tiny island nation. The 7-7 3rd-place match was, in my opinion, far more enthralling than the Final match itself but I still think the tournament as a whole was absolutely fantastic. Hope you all enjoyed it as well!

U-17 European Championship

Well it has been a long and winding road but it looks as though we are approaching the end. Hosts Slovakia were lucky enough to make it to the Semi-Finals before being bested by the Italians in a 0-2 encounter. Mario Pugliese's 3rd minute opener probably left a bad taste in the host's mouth, however despite several opportunities the Slovakians could never get a hold of the game. Elio Capradossi's 64th minute goal put the last nail in the coffin as Italy progressed to their first ever Euro U-17 Final and the hosts were left wondering about what might have been. As for the other Semi-Final match-up, as I post this Russia and Sweden are presently tied goalless as they approach the end of the 1st half with equal efforts though the closest chance thus far came from Sweden's Erdal Rakip. Check back later for my post on the Final which will take place on May 17th. Enjoy the games!