Iran holds off Mexico to reach beach soccer World Cup quarters
The Iranian men’s national beach soccer team has edged past the Mexican rivals 3–2 to face Tahiti in the quarter finals of the 2015 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Portugal.
During a Tuesday match, Iran defeated Mexico to clinch a spot in the knockout stages of the World Cup eighth edition, being held in Espinho Stadium in Praia da Baía beach of the northwestern city of Espinho, over 20 kilometers south of Porto.
Iran’s squad, coached by Brazilian Marco Octávio, stormed into a three-goal lead to go through knockout phase as the pool’s runner up of the group C which is topped by Brazil flawlessly.
Amir Akbari scored the opener for Iran in the first period followed by Mohammad Ahmadzadeh’s spectacular overhead kick and Faroogh Dara's shot in the second period. The Mexicans responded minutes later with two goals, through Gerardo Gomez and Abdiel Villa, which were not enough to save Mexico from going home.
Octávio’s boys have beaten Spain 6-5 and lost the topsy-turvy game 4-3 to Brazil, the all-time champion of tourneys.
The last eight teams will play on July 16, when Iran will take on Tahiti, which stands at the top of group D and triumphed over FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup champions Russia with a 7-6 win.
This round of the beach soccer games is the eighth edition of the men’s competition that has been organized by FIFA since 2005. Overall, it is the 18th edition since the establishment of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in 1995 as the Beach Soccer World Championships. The beach soccer World Cup was held annually between 1995 and 2009, but is the third to take place under the new biennial system.
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