Russia run to their third title at Intercontinental Cup; UAE finish fifth

Russia came bolting out of the blocks with four goals in the opening period to defeat Tahiti 5-2 to win their third Intercontinental Cup title. The UAE beat Portugal 4-1 to finish fifth but were left to lament their poor start to the tournament.

The UAE defeated Portugal to finish fifth at the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup Dubai 2015 at Dubai International Marine Club on November 07, 2015 in Dubai. Courtesy: beachsoccer.com

DUBAI // Russia came bolting out of the blocks with four goals in the opening period to defeat Tahiti 5-2 at a packed Dubai International Marine Club on Saturday night to win their third Intercontinental Cup title.

Two goals from Yury Krasheninnikov, later crowned the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, and one each from Egor Shaikov and Aleksey Makarov gave the two-time world champions a blistering start and though the Tahitians, runners-up at the World Cup earlier this year, tried valiantly in the third period, the Russians were never really stretched and saw out the game in relative comfort.

“It is a great moment in my career,” said Russian coach Mikhail Likhachev. “To win this tournament a third time is amazing. We played fantastic in the semi-final and final.”

Angelo Schirinzi, the Tahiti coach, bemoaned his team’s poor start. “We were not in the game in the first 12 minutes and to come back from four goals down against Russia is very difficult,” he said.

“We played well in the second and third periods, but just could not use the opportunities that came our way. That’s the problem.”

Yury Gorchinskiy struck Russia’s fifth in the third period, while Vetea Tchen and Tearii Labaste scored two consolation goals for Tahiti.

Iran finished third, defeating Egypt 3-2 on penalties after their encounter finished 2-2 at the end of the three periods and the three minutes of extra time.

Egypt led 2-1 with only 65 seconds left, but Mohammedali Mokhtari equalised with a stunning overhead kick. Hassan Mohamed dragged Egypt’s third penalty wide to give the 2013 Intercontinental champions Iran a hard-fought win.

Earlier, the UAE beat Portugal 4-1 to finish fifth but were left to lament their poor start when they were stunned 3-2 in the opening game by Egypt.

“The first match of the tournament, the loss to Egypt, that killed us,” UAE captain Ali Karim said.

“After that loss, the coach [Gustavo Zloccowicz] had a talk with us and said we have played strong teams like Tahiti in the friendlies before the tournament and how could we lose to Egypt, which, frankly speaking, is not at the same level as the teams we had played against.

“The talk worked for us. We beat Argentina and then Russia in the group matches, then Mexico in the consolation semis and now world champions Portugal for fifth place.

“After that loss to Egypt, the coach had said all our matches are now finals and we have won four finals on the trot. But, unfortunately, that defeat in the opening match cost us a place in the final.

“Still, we are happy with our performance.

“This is a very young team and I am confident we can go far at the World Cup.”

Walid Beshr scored twice for the hosts with Walid Mohammed and Abbas Ali contributing one each. Rui Coimbra was the lone goal scorer for Portugal.

Mexico defeated Argentina 6-2 in the last place play-off of the eight-team tournament.

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