Iranian national beach soccer team beat the Morocco team five-nil Thursday night to reach the semifinals in the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup Dubai 2014.
Coached by Mario Octavio, the Iranian team gained six points in total from three matches to reach the semifinals, the second team in its group to reach the position, IRNA reported.
Ali Naderi and Mohammad Ahmadzadeh shot two goals each, and Farid Boulokbashi one for Iran in the game with Morocco.
Iran had in its previous games been defeated by Portugal 4-2, but downed the host team, Emirates 2-1.
In the semifinals the Iranian team must face Russia. In the previous Intercontinental Cup, Iran beat Russia twice, once in the group stage and again in the final match and was ranked the world champion.
Strongest Teams
The strongest teams from each continent were placed in two groups of four teams each. Host UAE, defending champion Iran, African powerhouse Morocco, and Europe’s giant Portugal were the four teams in Group A, among which Portugal, bagging all the possible 9 points, was first to qualify for the next round followed by Iran.
Group B included the World Cup champion Russia, the tetracampeao (four times champion) Brazil, Asian runner-up Japan, and CONCACAF crown winner USA. Russia and Brazil with 8 and 6 points respectively proceeded to the next round from this group.
In the other semifinals Portugal will face Brazil.
Launched on November 4, the UAE is hosting one of the most prestigious competitions of the yearly sport calendar, the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup, which will wrap up on November 8.
