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MY BEACH SOCCER 
Argentina squeaks by Peru on penalties, Paraguay and Venezuela edge their opponents, meanwhile Brazil rolls
The days´ opening match at the III Juegos Suramericanos de Playa was a thriller that saw Paraguay triumph over Colombia 5-3. The two sides both showed resolve and traded blows through the first two periods and almost the entire final frame. With three minutes left in the match Paraguay maintained their composure and showed that their experience was a big advantage by scoring two late goals. Fabian Escura of Paraguay scored two of his teams´ goals and Fernando Vasquez of Colombia scored twice as well in the losing effort.
Building off of the emotional roller coaster that was the first game of the day was difficult but Argentina and Peru managed to do just that, raise the excitement even more. Argentina won by the narrowest of margins, in penalties 2(1) – 2(0), over Peru. Argentina faced a deficit early but responded and when they found themselves losing again late in the match, they responded again to send the game to overtime. Both teams used excellent defense throughout and overtime exemplified that as the extra frame was scoreless. Anyone can score in beach soccer and in this match, every goal, including the winning penalty shot from Medero of Argentina, was scored by a different player.
Venezuela earned a very important win against Ecuador, by a score of 3-2. This up and down match was a gem to watch from whistle to whistle. Ecuador scored first but Venezuela was not deterred and eventually recovered with two goals to take the lead. Just as Venezuela had an answer for Ecuador, The Tri dug deep and found the back of the net again to tie the score at two late in the match. It seemed as though the teams were headed to overtime but in the final minutes Venezuela scored the deciding goal.
Brazil has been riding on a beach soccer high since the BSWW Riveria Maya Cup 2014 and their 9-3 win against Uruguay was another step toward winning this tournament as well. The game was much closer than the final score indicates, in fact, after the first period, the score was tied. At zero. In a surprisingly great display of defense, Uruguay managed to shut down the Green and Yellow in the opening frame. Brazil settled down and scored four goals in the second period, while still shutting out Uruguay. Brazil opened the final period with a quick and then Uruguay came alive. It would prove to be a little too late, but they scored three goals to get within two goals. The juggernaut that Brazil is, scored four late goals to make sure Uruguay could not recover.
The high quality of the matches will be on full display this Thursday as three of the four Group A teams, Venezuela, Paraguay, and Ecuador, all have the opportunity to advance to the knockout stages. Group B is set with Argentina and Brazil but their matchup on Thursday will determine the winner and runner-up in the group.
