DUBAI // On the eve of the final, Gilberto da Costa, the Brazil coach, had described Iran as “the best team in Asia”. And they definitely are. But, as last night’s title clash showed, there is huge gulf between Asia’s best and the boys from the home of beach soccer.
The Brazilians had looked in a league of their own in this Intercontinental Cup, cruising through the group stages and nonchalantly dismissing the defending champions Russia 7-0 in the semis. In the final, they dished out more of the same. Iran never looked short in spirit, and indeed had much support from the stands, but they were simply outclassed in the 6-2 defeat.
“It was not easy,” said Da Costa as he celebrated Brazil’s second Intercontinental Cup success after their 2014 triumph. “Iran fought until the end, so we had to stay focused until the last second.”
Cheered on by the huge turnout of Iranian fans, Moslem Mesigar put the Iranians ahead inside the first two minutes of the match, but their joy was short-lived as Diogo Catarino drilled in the equaliser 40 seconds later. Bruno da Silva, the leading goal-scorer of the tournament, then made it 2-1 from the penalty spot, taking his individual tally to eight.
The Brazilians were in cruise mode from thereon, racing to a 5-1 lead inside the first five minutes of the second period, with two goals from Rafael Antonio and one from Daniel Nogueira, before Mohammed Ahmadzadeh pulled one back for the Iranians from the penalty spot to make it 5-2 heading into the final period, where Catarino added his second of the night to the tally.
Delighted with the performance of his team in Dubai, Da Costa has urged his players to keep working hard if they hope to join Russia and Portugal as the best teams in the world.
“For me, Russia and Portugal are still the two best teams in the world,” he said. “So we need to keep working hard and keep getting results like this. If we can do that, maybe we can become the best in the world.”
Russia, however, have not hit the high notes in 2016. World champions in 2011 and 2013, they failed to qualify for the 2017 World Cup in Bahamas, finishing fifth in the European qualification. And now, they have lost their Intercontinental Cup crown as well.
This is the first time since 2009 when Russia will finish a season without a title and finishing third here, following a battling 4-3 win over Tahiti, was hardly a consolation.
“It is really difficult to play a match for the third place because we are a team used to winning titles, or playing finals, and our fans our accustomed to this,” said Mikhail Likhachev. “So mentally, this match was perhaps tougher than the final.”
Earlier, Poland beat Egypt in the play-off for fifth spot, edging the penalty shootout 2-0 after the sides had finished 3-3 at the end of regulation and extra time. The UAE, meanwhile, managed to close their dismal campaign with their first win in five matches when they beat the United States 4-3 in the play-off for seventh place.
Results
Final: Brazil 6 Iran 2
Play-off for 3rd place: Russia 4 Tahiti 3
Play-off for 5th place: Poland 3 Egypt 3 (2-0 pen)
Play-off for 7th place: UAE 4 USA 3
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