The Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup hosts UAE were beaten by Morocco in an evenly matched game last night at the Dubai International Marine Club.
The national team were slow to find their feet and rhythm in their opening game even as the opponents raced away to a 3-0 lead.
But UAE did not back down and got three back to level the game in the third period with just minutes to the final whistle. However, Nassim Al Hadoui scored his third goal of the game to hand Morocco the winner with seconds left on the clock.
Even as the UAE were trying to settle down at the start, Al Hadoui gave the perfect start to Morocco with a brilliant header.
It was the only goal in the first of three periods, with UAE doing well to retain as much possession in a fast-paced game that moved from one end to the other with quick turnovers.
Morocco had one goal disallowed, and the UAE players were unfortunate as they came close but missed their mark a few times in the middle period.
Kamel Al Mahrouk then scored a superb goal with a great overhead kick with his back to the goalkeeper Humaid Al Balooshi. An inspired Al Hadoui made a run from the right and beat a charging Al Balooshi to get in the team’s third goal.
The UAE came out in the third quarter with Abbas Ali Haji slotting in one from close range and scoring from a penalty for the second.
Hassan Ali then gave the team and the crowd a boost with a great finish that brought the contest level, but that joy was short-lived with a goal from Al Hadoui’s deft touch deciding the outcome.
The win means Morocco are at the top of Group A and will use the momentum to tackle Portugal today. The UAE will then face Iran in the day’s final match.
In yesterday’s other games, strong contenders Brazil slipped for a while but were still the better side as they produced an emphatic 10-3 win over the United States in the opening match of the tournament.
The champions, Iran, were undone by Portugal in a roller-coaster of a match in which Portugal took the first lead, but Iran countered with two goals.
Portugal, past winners, then bounced back with three goals in a row to seal the result.
Russia underlined their intent as strong contenders by beating Japan 9-3.
Follow us on Twitter at SprtNationalUAE
