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 Americas & Beyond | April 2008 
Goals Galore for Argentina at Home
 Beach Soccer Worldwide
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Brazil had a difficult time dealing with the Paraguayans, but a 6-4 victory secured them the semifinal berth in Group B. On Friday, Paraguay and Uruguay have a do-or-die clash with the other semi spot at stake. Group A is wide open, as Argentina leads with 6 points, followed by Chile and Venezuela, both with 3 points.
“It feels good when you are the one making it look easy. This is just what we did today: our offensive weapons worked to perfection.” It is normally the kind of rather euphemistical or modest statement made by a Brazilian player after one of their uncountable blow-outs. But not this Thursday, in the second day of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2008 Qualifier CONMEBOL Buenos Aires, played at the Obras Sanitarias stadium.
The ones who made their match look easy were the hosts Argentineans, who thrashed Peru 8-0, as explained by their captain Ezequiel Hilaire, quoted above. Defending world champions Brazil had to work a lot harder throughout the whole match against surprising Paraguay: after taking an early 3-0 lead, the kings of the beach suddenly started to look baffled and ended up having to grind out a 6-4 victory.
“It is something we should be aware of: for the second straight match, we had absolute control and kept pushing hard to score instead of using the lead in our advantage. The Paraguayans have a very solid defensive system and I knew it would be complicated to score against them”, said head coach Alexandre Soares.
Albeit doing it through the hard way, the Brazilians secured their semifinal berth as they reached 6 points atop of group B. Friday’s clash between Paraguay and Uruguay will decide the other semifinalist. The 8-0 outing did not make such difference for the Argentineans, though, who haven’t still sealed their semifinal tickets. The hosts lead Group A with 6 points, while Venezuela – who beat Chile today 5-4 – and the Chileans stand at 3 points. Peru is the only team that has been knocked out of contention so far.
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 5 x 4 Chile
4:30pm Paraguay 4 x 6 Brazil
Followed by - Peru 0 x 8 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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