Brazil Wins FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2008

Brazil won its third straight FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup on Sunday with a 5-3 win over Italy in Marseille.

Bruno and Sidney each notched a pair of goals and teammate Andre added another as Brazil stormed out to a 5-0 lead and held on for the win.

"We have achieved our goal," Brazil forward Benjamin said. "We still want to do more and prove to the entire world that we are the best. I think that we can be proud of ourselves."

Early on, it was Italy with the best scoring chance, as Massimiliano Esposito flicked the ball into the air and attempted an overhead kick. It hit the crossbar, however.

Benjamin was equally unlucky in the first period, as he fired a shot just wide of the net before he was foiled by the crossbar on another try.

Brazil finally got on the board in the ninth minute, as Bruno knocked down a chest pass before spinning around to score. He added another in the 15th minute with a shot to the top left corner. Sidney kept things going, making his way around Italian goalkeeper Stefano Spada with a dribble in the 22nd minute to give Brazil a 3-0 lead. He headed in a fourth goal for the squad two minutes later.

Andre notched a goal on a pass from Duda in the 29th, to cap a five goal run by Brazil in the first 30 minutes.

Italy responded by scoring three goals in five minutes, but could not catch up to Brazil. Paolo Palmacci, Roberto Pasquali, and Diego Maradona Jr. each scored in the attempted rally.
"Our initial aim was to reach the quarter-finals," Italy's Esposito said. "So we're pleased to have exceeded our expectations by such a distance. It's a huge performance."

In the third-place match, Madjer scored a hat trick to put Portugal over Spain 5-4.Amarelle won the award for the tournament's best player, the Golden Shoe. He was the top scorer with 13 goals.

from cbcsports.ca...

In the spirit of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Soccerworld Polson Pier will be hosting Canada’s biggest Beach Soccer Championships this coming August. With two tour dates set August 9^th-10^th (Soccerworld, Polson Pier) and August 23^rd-24^th (Wasaga Beach), the tournaments will support all levels of play, from Youth to Co-ed, Womens and Men’s Pro Am.

For more information and to register check out Soccer World Central.