Dubai: Russia will head towards a third title in four years without their inspirational goalkeeper Andrey Bukhlitskiy as they take on Brazil in the final of the Fourth Samsung Beach Soccer Inter-Continental Cup at the Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) on Saturday.
Winners here in 2011 and 2012, Russia packed off defending champions Iran 4-3, while Brazil defeated Portugal 5-3 in the second semi-final later in the night.
Saturday is the final day of this competition with the final between Brazil and Russia at 8pm bringing down the curtains on the fourth edition of this annual competition. The play-offs for the placings will be held earlier in the evening with the first match kicking off at 4:15 pm.
Earlier, the UAE had fought their way back from a two-goal deficit to secure a gallant 4-3 win over Japan. The UAE will take on Morocco in the play-off for fifth place after the North Africans got the better of the USA 7-3.
In a re-match of last year’s final, it was Russia who were technically and tactically adroit as they allowed the Iranians very little space to take a good look at their goal.
After some early anxious moments, it was Yury Krasheninnikov who turned in a corner with 5:50 minutes remaining. Kirill Romanov doubled the lead within a minute as he slipped one past the otherwise alert Seyed Peyman Hossainilargani on the Iranian goal.
The second period of play was intense but went without a goal. In the final period, Iran’s Amir Hussain Akbari Fartkhouni was given a red card reducing the Asian side to four on the pitch. Russia made the best use of this brief absence with Dmitry Shishin tapping into an empty goal to make it 3-0.
A direct kick from Artur made it 4-0 and Russia seemed cosy on their way into the final. But Iran had other plans as a Hassan Abdullahi Mobarhan header trickled in to make it 4-1. But what changed the course of the match was a red card to Russian goalkeeper Andrey Bukhlitskiy – who will unfortunately miss Saturday’s final - and Ali Naderi pulled one more from the spot and Mohammad Ahmadzadeh made it 4-3. However, that was all Iran could afford as they ran out of time.
The second semi-final was also keenly contested with Brazil opening the score through Anderson Lima with 3.37 minutes left in the first period. Fernando Valenca secured a second early in the second period only to see Nuno Belchior pull one back and make it 2-1.
The final period of 12 minutes was action-packed as Portugal matched the South Americans. Sidney Souto made it 3-1 for Brazil and Rodrigo da Costa added a fourth in the next minute and Brazil seemed to be coasting towards the final.
However, Portugal got two goals through Joao Vitor Madjer and Nuno Belchior in-between a strike from Rui Coimbra to send the capacity crowd wild. But that was all the Europeans could afford as they eventually ran out of time.
