The Peninsula
Brazil along with Switzerland will be looking for their second successive wins in the men’s beach soccer Group A matches in the ANOC World Beach Games at Katara Beach today.
On Friday, Brazil began their campaign in emphatic fashion with a thumping 9-1 win over Morocco.
The South American giants now take on UAE, who lost the 19-goal thriller to Switzerland 10-9. Morocco clash with Switzerland in the other Group A match.
The pressure is firmly on Friday’s losing teams, who need a victory to keep their finals hopes alive, while the victors will be looking to secure their spot in the next round.
A total of 113 goals were scored over Friday’s 12 matches, with Liubov Komarova of Russia having the honour of scoring the first ever goal at the Games.
In Group B, Spain and Italy lead the points tally with three points each while Mexico and Solomon Islands are yet to open their points tally.
Today Spain meet Solomon Islands while Italy take on Mexico.
On Friday, Spain thrashed Mexico 9-3 in Group B, with Italy beating Solomon Islands 8-5.
In Group C, Senegal and Iran lead the points tally with three points each. Iran, who pipped Ukraine 5-4 take on Paraguay while Senegal after their 3-0 win over Paraguay will lookl to add a second one against Ukraine In Group D, Asian giants Japan will look to build up on the good start they have made at the championships by defeating Uruguay 7-2.
Japan’s Ozu Moreira, who scored four goals in his side’s win, notched a personal century, scoring his 100th international goal.
“I have never imagined I would live this moment,” Ozu said.
“All I wanted when I moved to Japan was to play for the national team and qualify for the Beach Soccer World Cup. We did it and we also want to win it! I came a long way, all my team-mates came a long way and I want to thank them all. It’s not a matter of my record or that I scored four goals today. It’s all about playing as a team.” In today’s match they take on El Salvador, who lost 4-2 win to Russia.
In the other match of Group D, Russia, who also have three points meet Uruguay.
In the women’s section, Brazilian women also began their campaign on a winning note by defeating Cape Verde and lead Group A along with Spain, who defeated Mexico 3-1. Brazil face Mexico while Spain meet Cape Verde in today’s matches.
In Group B, Russia and Great Britain who began with wins in their opening round matches face Paraguay and the United States respectively in today’s matches.