Brazilians overcome Portugal in high-quality match as Oman and United Arab Emirates chalk up victories for Asia
After defeating Portugal in one of the group stage’s most highly-anticipated encounters, Brazil became the third team to qualify for the quarter-finals of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Paraguay 2019. This was the South Americans’ seventh consecutive success versus the Portuguese in eight World Cup meetings.
Elsewhere in Group D, Oman collected their second-ever win in the history of the tournament at the expense of Nigeria, who are now eliminated.
Group C, meanwhile, is very much up for grabs, following the victories recorded by United Arab Emirates and Senegal. The Emiratis led the way by seeing off two-time champions Russia, while the Africans, propelled by an inspired four-goal performance from Mamour Diagne, disposed of Belarus.
Group C
Russia 1-4 United Arab Emirates
Group D
Best of the best
The incredible match between Brazil and Portugal did not just raise the interest of the fans: several tournament participants were also in attendance. In fact, players and officials from Paraguay, Switzerland, United States, Japan, Oman, Italy, Senegal, Belarus and Mexico were all present in the stands. Nobody wanted to miss the fixture that has occurred more times (eight) than any other in World Cup history.
First time for everything
With their surprising win over Russia, United Arab Emirates brought a long undesirable run to an end – up until Sunday, they had lost their six previous World Cup clashes against European nations. Indeed, one of the teams to get the better of them was Russia, at Dubai 2008.
350 not out
The number is as impressive as his achievements: 40-year-old goalkeeper Mao played in his 350th match for Brazil versus Portugal. In recognition of this feat, the five-time World Cup winner was presented with a goalkeeper jersey with that number on the back.
