Helinho, centre, of Brazil 5, goes up in the air as Papel and Anderson of Brazil 3 await his delivery in a Footvolley World Cup match at Jumeirah Beach.
Helinho, centre, of Brazil 5, goes up in the air as Papel and Anderson of Brazil 3 await his delivery in a Footvolley World Cup match at Jumeirah Beach.
Helinho, centre, of Brazil 5, goes up in the air as Papel and Anderson of Brazil 3 await his delivery in a Footvolley World Cup match at Jumeirah Beach.
Helinho, centre, of Brazil 5, goes up in the air as Papel and Anderson of Brazil 3 await his delivery in a Footvolley World Cup match at Jumeirah Beach.

A South American flavour at Footvolley World Cup


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As was widely expected, South American teams dominated the knockout stages on the second day of the Footvolley World Cup in Dubai on Friday.

As many as five teams from South America made it through to the quarter-final line-up, all of which will be played Saturday.

On a busy day of action featuring 19 matches at The Walk, Jumeirah Beach Residence, the Brazilian duo of Fabio and Xande beat England's David Donkin and James Titley comfortably in the second round, 21-9.

Brazil, where the game originated in the 1960s, have traditionally dominated the sport and had five teams participating in the tournament.

The duo of Fabio and Xande will take on their countrymen, Tata and Piao, who comfortably beat the Dutch pair of Erick Drenth and Jordi.

European teams make up the rest of the quarter-final entries.

France's Ortega Patrick and Nicolas edged out Croatia's Ivan Maskic and Dikno Maras 21-14 in the second round and will now take on Italy's Paolo Mazzieri and Francesco Montanari, who beat Bolivia 21-11 at the same stage to advance.

The evening's most exciting game was between Paraguay duo of Victor and Oddi and the Portuguese side of Marcos Flores and Bruno Santos, with Victor and Oddi prevailing 23-21 to reach the quarter-finals against the other team from Paraguay, Jesus and Quicho.

The last eight line-up is completed by Argentina and Spain; Argentina's Lisandro and Mariano beat the Norwegian team of Dag and Morten 23-13, and Spain's Samper Jara and Nacho defeated Italy.

Local interest in the tournament ended on the first day of the tournament on Thursday after the UAE pair of Jamal Saif and Mohammed Rashid lost all three of their group matches.

Saif was instrumental in bringing the tournament to the UAE.

The World Cup attracted 33 teams for the men's competition from 26 different countries.

It is being held under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, the Crown Prince of Dubai, and chairman of the Dubai Sports Council (DSC), and Dr Ahmad Al Sharif.

The sport, similar to the Thai sport of Sepak Traw but played on beaches with a bigger ball, is a combination of football and beach volleyball, with no hands allowed.

The game began among footballers at Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach in 1965, since when it has grown in popularity around the globe.

Top Brazilian footballers such as Romario, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo play the game recreationally.

The tournament concludes Saturday with all matches up to the final to be played from 4pm onwards.

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