Brazilian giants Carlos Barbosa on Tuesday beat Qatar’s Al Rayyan to reach the final of the Futsal Intercontinental Cup.
Barbosa will now play another Brazilian side Magnus Futsal, who defeated FC Barcelona Lassa in a penalty shootout in the other semi-final at Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena. Playing aggressive and coordinated futsal, Barbosa won 3-0, after scoring all their goals in the first half. In the first minute, Al Rayyan’s Murilo Zabot Sliva produced a sliding block to stop Bruno Diaz’s shot from close range.
In the second minute, Carlos Barbosa’s Felipe Paschoal slipped a neat ball but his shot narrowly missed Al Rayyan goalpost. In the 4th minute, Diaz produced another ferocious shot but that too missed the target as the Brazilian side upped the ante. In the 6th minute, Carlos Barbosa scored through Canabarro whose shot was deflected into net by Al Rayyan’s Arthur. A minute later, Diego Nunes’s shot hit the crossbar and ricocheted back into play, much to the dejection of home fans.
Zico of Carlos Barbosa produced a well-timed goal in the 12th minute to double the lead of the visitors. In the 17th minute, Carlos Barbosa jumped to. 3-0 lead after a strike by Felipe Paschoal.
Al Rayyan played much better in the second half but could not force goals as Carlos Barbosa defence held their nerve. Al Rayyan missed numerous chances to score in the second half but still impressed home fans with inspired moves.
Meanwhile, in the other semi-final Magnus and Barcelona were locked at 3-3 after extra time. Magnus held their nerve to win the shootout 6-4 after Lassa missed a spot kick.
For Magnus, Rodrigo Hardy Araujo, Leandro Simi and Alessandro Rosa Vierra scored. For Barcelona, Sergioa Lozana scored but Carlos Vagner’s shot was blocked by Magnus goalie Tiago De Melo.
The winners started proceedings on a promising note. In the third minute, Magnus’ Rodrigo Hardy Araujo produced a snap-header but his deflection hit the goalpost and caused no damage to Barcelona’s cause. In the 7th minute, Lassa’s Ferrao deflected a ball from close range but his shot narrowly missed the Magnus’ goalmouth. A minute later, Lassa’s Dione Alex Veroneze flicked the ball with his left-foot but his shot was well saved by goalie Tiago De Melo Marinho. Lassa’s twin attacks through Wilde Gomes Da Silva and Ángel Velasco Marugán were superbly saved by goalie Thiago.
Magnus opened the scoring through a lucky goal by Falcao whose shot was deflected into the net by a Lassa player in the 10th minute, 1-0. With two minutes to go, Lassa’s Carlos Vagner Gularte Filho produced a twin-attack but goalie Tiago blocked both shots. Lassa produced the equaliser through Sergio Lozano with 90 seconds to go. Lozano beat the goalie off a penalty kick 1-1. After a minute of quick exchanges, Magnus’ Leandro Simi slotted an easy ball into the Lassa net as the Brazilians took the lead for the second time in the match, 2-1.
The Spanish side bounce back in the second half. Marc Garcia equalized to make it two –all nine minutes into the second half for Lassa.
With two minutes to go, Sergio Martinez gave the Spanish side the lead but Leandro Simi equalized in the last minute for the Brazilians to draw level and take the match into extra time.
Meanwhile, Russia’s FC Dynamo Moscow and Portuguese powerhouse SL Benfica picked up wins to finish 5th and 7th positions respectively.
Dynamo Moscow beat Movistar Inter 2-1 in a game for 5th place play-off at Ladies Sports Hall at Aspire Academy.
In another game at the same venue, SL Benfica edged Tasisat Daryaei of Iran 2-1 to claim the 7th position in the eight-team tournament.