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 Americas & Beyond | April 2008 
Chile Shocks; Brazil Shows Its Strength
 Beach Soccer Worldwide
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Not only did the Chileans play a respectable part in their official debut as a beach soccer squad, they have downright awed the crowd that attended the Obras Sanitarias stadium in Buenos Aires for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2008 CONMEBOL Qualifier. Wednesday’s opening matchday saw Chile defeat Peru 8-5 in their first-ever official beach soccer match and thus take the temporary lead of Group A.
“It was really amazing. We are used to seeing new countries starting in beach soccer and you don’t get to see a lot of debuts like this. Their first two periods were great”, said Brazilian playmaker Buru, who was voted the beast beach soccer player in the world in 2007. Buru had the chance to watch the Chileans play before warming up for the defending world champions’ first challenge in Buenos Aires, against Uruguay.
The 8-3 scoreline suggests a walk in the park, but the truth is that Brazil had a hard time breaking the Uruguayan dead lock and settling for their first 3 points in Group B: the two teams were tied at 3 till six minutes before the final whistle, when Brazil’s severe surge led them to five consecutive goals.
Hosts Argentina had their share of suffering as well, as a gridlocked Venezuelan defence held them to a 1-1 tie all the way until the final minutes of play, when Federico Hilaire striked the winner and gave the local fans some reason to cheer even louder. “I must praise our home crowd, which really made the difference and lifted us to the victory. That is the way we expect a South American qualifier to be: filled with fierce clashes like this one”, said Argentinean head coach Hector Petrasso.
The match schedule is set like this:
Wed 23.04.08
3:15pm - Chile 8 x 5 Peru
4:30pm - Brazil 8 x 3 Uruguay
Followed by - Argentina 2 x 1 Venezuela
Thu 24.04.08
3:15pm Venezuela vs. Chile
4:30pm Paraguay vs. Brazil
Followed by - Peru vs. Argentina
Fri 25.04.08
3:15pm - Venezuela vs. Peru
4:30pm - Uruguay vs. Paraguay
Followed by - Argentina vs. Chile
The teams play round robin within their pools and the top two of each advance to the semifinals:
Semi-finals*
Sat 26.04.08*
4:30pm - 1st of Group B vs. 2nd of Group A
Followed by - 1st of Group A vs. 2nd of Group B
*the order of Semi-finals and kick-off times may be altered by the Organizing Committee
Sun 27.04.08**
Noon - Loser M10 vs. Loser M11 (Play-off 3rd/4th)
Followed by - Winner M10 vs. Winner M11 (Final)
** The two finalists and the winner of the 3rd place play-off will join France (host country); Cameroon and Senegal (CAF) and El Salvador and Mexico to be the South American representatives at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.
 Click HERE for the complete matchday report (PDF)
 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2008
Follow the competition from Durban, to Puerto Vallarta, Buenos Aires, Dubai, and Benidorm on the road leading up to the final championship matches in Marseille, France, the host country for the 2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. |
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