It was the first match of Day 4 at the 2014 Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup in Dubai and the last one the UAE had wanted to take part in.
With no wins in three pool matches, the UAE had finished bottom of Group A. It meant a showdown with Japan in the afternoon sun for the opportunity to go for fifth place on the last day of the eight-team tournament at Dubai International Marine Club.
It all had an unmistakable sense of anti-climax. Instead of an evening under the floodlights in a packed stadium, they had only a handful of fans in the stands. Still, this was knockout football of sorts.
Not that the team had performed poorly. On the contrary, it had been a tournament of fine margins for the Emiratis.
In the first match against Morocco, they had performed heroically to overturn a three-goal deficit in the final third only to lose 4-3 to the last kick of the match. They then lost 2-1 to Iran and 3-2 to Portugal.
“The first three matches we had played very well,” coach Gustavo “Guga” Zloccowicz said. “The players gave everything. But our lack of experience is why we lost. We are playing against some of the top teams in the world, like Portugal and Iran. We had control of those matches and we closed them down well, but the young players, sometimes they don’t know how to hold out, how to win the game.”
With a place in the semi-finals long gone, the coach had to lift his players to prove they were the best of the rest. It was not easy.
The match initially reflected its sleepy surroundings, uneventful until Japan took the lead late in the first period. For the fourth match running, the UAE had failed to score in the first 12 minutes. However, the match, and their luck, would turn.
Led by star striker and captain Ali Karim, the team came out fighting. They threatened with a few long range shots before the next goal was scored by Japan in the sixth minute of the period, thanks to Shotaro Haraguchi’s close-range finish.
From the restart, the UAE’s Karim was on the end of a flick and his stunning volley dipped into the Japanese net. The comeback was on.
Throughout the tournament the UAE had shown their best form in the final period, and this match proved no different. Except this time there would be tangible reward.
The equaliser came five minutes into the period, Ali Ansari scoring with a stunning overhead kick.
This was more like the comeback kids from the opening day. There may not have been many Emiratis in the stand, but the scattered crowd began to throw its support behind the Whites as the sun started to sink. After surviving a couple of scares, Guga’s boys sensed a first win and cranked up the pressure to produce a dramatic finale.
With four minutes left, a tired Japanese defence gave away a penalty. Up stepped Ahmed Beshr to slot home to put the UAE 3-2 ahead, the first time the home side had led in a match.
With a first victory in sight, tension crept in and the Emirati defence was breached with just over two minutes left. A penalty shoot-out looked odds on.
Not for the first time, Karim saved the day. As the clock ticked towards full-time, he was awarded a free kick from just inside the Japan half. His shot flew past Terukina Shingo. Guga punched the air. There was no way back for Japan.
“The players had a lot of focus,” he said. “Even when we were losing, they came back like they did against Morocco. They didn’t give up and were not afraid to follow up their attacks.”
What threatened to be a lifeless match turned out to be one of the tournament’s most exciting. The reaction of the Emirati players and staff at the final whistle showed just what it meant to win a knockout match and progress to the fifth-place game today.
The coach, though, could not hide his disappointment at not making it to the last four.
“Our expectations were high. We can beat the other teams, we’re at the same level,” Guga said. “After we lost to Iran we didn’t have a chance [to get to the semi-final], so I said to the players we must get the best position we can.
“We are learning, but we can learn from winning, too. It’s not good to just learn from losing.”
Their opponents in the final match tonight will be Morocco, with the chance of another thriller and a fifth-place finish.
This time at least, Guga will be pleased. They will not kick off before the sun has gone down.
RUSSIA TO FACE BRAZIL IN FINAL
There were plenty of goals again at the 2014 Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup as the penultimate day’s action saw the two finalists and the order of play decided.
In the first of the semi-finals at Dubai International Marine Club, world champions Russia defeated the reigning Intercontinental Cup holders Iran 4-3 to exact some revenge for losing last year’s final to the same opponents.
The Russians raced into a four-goal lead by the end of the second period and looked to be coasting to the final.
Iran then almost pulled off the comeback of the tournament, scoring three times in a frantic third period and nearly scoring a last-minute equaliser in front of a large and noisy contingent of their compatriots.
In the night’s final match, Brazil beat Portugal 5-3 in another exciting match, which often turned nasty.
Portugal striker Madjer, who plays for Al Ahli in Dubai, scored a sensational left-footed volley but next year’s Beach Soccer World Cup hosts never got close enough to a gifted Brazilian team in the final period.
In the dying seconds, the Portuguese forward Nuno Miguel Belchoir was dismissed for punching Brazilian captain Bruno Xavier on the side of the head.
The two had to be separated after the final whistle.
Brazil will face Russia in tonight’s final, while Portugal and Iran clash for third place.
The UAE had dramatically defeated Japan 4-3, overcoming a 2-0 deficit, in the first match of the day and Morocco produced a display of high-quality finishing to beat the United States 7-3.
Defender Faycel Al Karkouri scored twice for the winners.
The two results mean the host nation will face Morocco in the fifth-place play-off match, and Japan and the US will play for the right to finish seventh, in the first match of the day.
akhaled@thenational.ae
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