Dubai: The fight for the third place in the futsal tournament went to the wire with Al Wasl securing a hard-fought 3-2 extra time win over The Storm on the penultimate night of the Nad Al Sheba (NAS) Ramadan Sports Tournament.
Tied 1-1 at the full-time whistle, it was Portuguese striker Fabio Daniel Marques Lima giving The Storm the lead for a second time with 1.40 minutes left for the end of the first five minutes of extra time.
But once again Al Wasl rose to the occasion and got an equaliser through Taynan da Silva Rego with 2.33 minutes left for the final whistle. And then, exactly one minute later, Badr Mubarak tapped into an empty net to secure a hard-fought victory and third place.
Earlier, Hamad Mohammad Al Ghoul had scored the only goal to give The Storm a shock lead with 3.22 minutes remaining on the clock in the first half. After persistent attacks, favourites Al Wasl finally managed to draw level midway through the second period when Mubarak tapped in a pass from Paulo Roberto Castanhassi.
“This win is so special. Unlike other teams, we had only three professional players in our team. And ours is the only team that has played three matches in three days. We are tired, but we gave it all we had,” Badr Mubarak said.
RESULT
Futsal Third Place Play-off: Al Wasl bt The Storm 3-2
