See you in Dubai!

The United Arab Emirates must improve if they are to provide tough opposition as hosts next year, and the list of teams who need to make major strides ahead of Dubai 2009 ought to be extended to include Cameroon, Iran, Japan, Solomon Islands and El Salvador.

Neutrals may be hoping to see a few more goals when the competition moves to the Middle East, but if Marseille 2008 was the least prolific of the four FIFA Beach Soccer World Cups so far, that had a lot to do with the excellent standard of goalkeeping. Aside from Spain's Roberto Valeiro, winner of the inaugural adidas Golden Glove, Russia's Andrey Bukhlitskiy, Marcelo Salgueiro of Argentina and El Salvador's Luis Rodas all left a memorable impression on the Mediterranean coast.

For all those reasons, the competition's first voyage beyond Brazilian shores must go down as a remarkable success. Little by little, it has forced its way into the reckoning as one of the most significant events in the sporting calendar since its inception four years ago - to that extent that the growing army of beach soccer enthusiasts can hardly wait to watch the world's finest talents reconvene in Dubai a year from now.

Participating teams

Argentina, Brazil, Cameroon, United Arab Emirates, Spain, France, Iran, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Solomon Islands, El Salvador, Senegal, Uruguay

Final standings

1 - Brazil

2 - Italy

3 - Portugal

4 - Spain

Goals

(total) 259

An average of 8.09 per match

Top scorers

Madjer (POR) 13

Amarelle (ESP) 11

Belchior (POR) 10

from fifa.com...

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.