STORE 
MY BEACH SOCCER 
The world champions will face Brazil in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup quarter-finals.
Portugal captain Madjer insists his side are stronger after the experience losing to Paraguay, having bounced back from the defeat to beat UAE and reach the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup quarter-finals.
The world champions began their defence with a comfortable 7-0 win over Panama but then suffered a surprise 5-3 reversal against Paraguay to cast doubt on their progression to the last eight.
Ultimately, a 2-1 win in extra time over UAE ensured Mario Narciso’s world champions would progress to the knockout stages where they will come face to face with Brazil, who have been in scintillating form so far in Nassau.
Skipper Madjer says his team-mates have proven their ability to recover from defeat once more, as they did in 2015 when they lost to Senegal en route to lifting the title.
“The message in the dressing room after losing to Paraguay was that it happened in 2015, then we went on to be world champions and it happened here also,” he explained.
“So the message really is that we had to get everyone together and win the next match, which we did. Sometimes we lose and we learn, it’s an eye-opener really for all the players and all the staff.”
With Portugal’s quarter-final against Brazil on Thursday arguably the pick of the last-eight ties, Madjer also added that the world champions are relishing the prospect of facing the four-time FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup winners.
“Now we have Brazil, we have one day to rest and our focus then will be on beating Brazil,” he added.
“They’re obviously a very good team but if we want to be world champions again then we have to beat teams like this.”
