The Hungary International Tournament was a roaring success for UAE as they defeated the hosts 5-1 in the final
The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Tahiti 2013 is less than a month away and UAE is feeling even better about their chances now as they overcame an early heart-wrenching loss in penalties to The Netherlands to win the tournament over Hungary. En route to the title, UAE also defeated the Czech Republic.
The biggest tournament of the year begins on the 18th of September and the Hungary International Tournament was a perfect place for two World Cup bound teams, The Netherlands and UAE, to demonstrate their elite level of play and compete against the same kind of skill at the same time. This tournament was also very important in helping coaches determine the final spots for the World Cup.
August 18th was the opening day of the tournament and an exciting one that saw UAE smother The Czech Republic 4-0 and Hungary narrowly get by The Netherlands 4-3. The second day began just as exciting as the first day began, with The Netherlands rebounding from their opening day loss to defeat UAE in penalties 5-5 (2-1). The next match was an exciting game in which Hungary squeaked by The Czech Republic 5-3.
The third place match between The Netherlands and The Czech Republic was the second match of the tournament to go into overtime and eventually penalties, both of which Holland participated in and won. The Dutch beat the Czechs 3-3 (2-1) in this one. The final featured the undefeated hosts, Hungary against UAE. UAE started fast and scored all of their 5 goals in the first two periods to make sure that the Hungarians could not mount a comeback.
UAE and The Netherlands will be in different groups in the World Cup but with the best teams all over the globe competing, none of the groups will be easy to navigate for any one team. UAE will be in Group A with hosts Tahiti, Spain, and the U.S.A. The Netherlands is in group B with Argentina, El Salvador and one team yet to be determined.
