Russia hold nerve to advance

A 2-1 victory over Argentina at the Gimnasio Nilson Nelson means that Spain have qualified for the semi-finals of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Brazil 2008.

Argentina were dealt a huge blow on the eve of their match as their captain Carlos Sanchez was forced to miss the game with a leg injury. The injury forced the South Americans into a reshuffle and, as a result, it was perhaps no surprise that Spain looked strong from the start.

Javi Rodriguez, Kike and Torras, but Javier Guisande in the Argentina goal was equal to all of them. Argentina arguably created the better chance of the opening stages when Matias Lucuix forced Luis Amado into a fine save, but in the 15th minute, Spain took the lead when Fernando hammered the ball into the Argentina net.

The reply was almost immediate. Fernando Wilhelm's had saw his shot deflected on to the post by Martin Amas, but they got the goal their efforts deserved when Hernan Garcias slotted the ball home with two seconds of the half remaining.

Ortiz put Spain 2-1 ahead in the 24th minute, but once again, Argentina refused to lie down. Wilhelm rattled the crossbar three minutes after the goal, although that was their only noteworthy effort with the Europeans working hard to contain their rivals.

While Spain celebrate, Argentina now need a win in their final group match against Russia on Tuesday to stand a chance of progressing. 

Sergio Lopez, Argentina coach
We’ve played one of the favourites for this World Cup today and we’ve done extremely well. I’m certain the better goal difference will be the decisive factor when it comes to second place in our group.

Venancio Lopez, Spain coach
Argentina didn’t take any risks, but it was a good game from us. The most important thing was winning and hitting our target, a place in the semi-finals.

Day 12 (Oct 11) game: Paraguay 3 Argentina 3

Fabio Alcaraz scored his second goal of the match in the 39th minute to salvage Paraguay a 3-3 draw with Argentina in their opening second-round game.

The Paraguayans enjoyed a 2-0 lead in the first half, before their opponents stormed back and went in front when Matias Lucuix scored in the 36th minute. Alcaraz managed to place his equaliser past Javier Guisande because the goalkeeper was screened by a player standing in front of him.

Paraguay, who relied on counter attacks while concentrating on defence, grabbed a 2-0 advantage by the 14th minute in a hard-fought opening half. Alcaraz struck for the Paraguayans with the game two minutes old, putting away his first goal from the middle of the box following a nice pass from Robson Fernandez. Rene Villalba took advantage of his speed in the 14th minute, beating Hernan Garcias and then Guisande.

Only three minutes later, the Argentinians sliced the lead in half. Esteban Gonzalez's shot hit the goal post, and Sebastian Corazza slotted home the rebound. After both keepers made a pair of vital saves, Argentina levelled the scores in the 35th minute. Esteban Gonzalez won possession, took on two opponents and fired home.

Only a minute later, Lucuix struck with a hard shot, before Alcaraz pulled off his 11th-hour heroics.

Javier Guisande, Argentina player
We wanted to win, of course, but drawing is better than losing. All eight remaining teams are very strong. There's hardly any difference between the two groups. In principle, both are equally difficult.

Ruben Subeldia, Paraguay coach
We played well in the first half but struggled after the break. We were playing against a very solid team. We’ll work on rectifying the mistakes we made and start focusing on the next game

Second round

Paraguay - Argentina

3:3 (2:1)

Match	Date	Venue / Stadium	Time	Attendance
43	11 October 2008	Brasilia / Gimnasio Nilson Nelson	10:30	5961

Argentina booked passage to the second round of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Brazil 2008 with a 2-1 win over Guatemala in their final Group C game in Brasilia on Thursday.

In a tense and exciting encounter the South Americans made their scoring chances count. Matias Luciux hit home in the second minute with an opportunistic strike, and the scoreline remained 1-0 for the Argentines through to the half.

Nine minutes into the second period, Fernando Wilhelm added a second as Argentina looked well on their way to a victory over the Central Americans, who were - in fairness - the better team in the second half. Although Manuel Aristondo pulled one back for the Guatemalans in the fading moments, the end result saw Argentina cruise through 2-1.

Argentina finish second in Group C and move on to the knockout rounds alongside Ukraine, who won the section with a victory over China PR. Guatemala, despite picking up four points from their games, head out of the competition.

Argentina will meet Paraguay in an all-South American second-round showdown on Saturday.

First round

Argentina - Guatemala

2:1 (1:0)

Match	Date	Venue / Stadium	Time	Attendance
37	09 October 2008	Brasilia / Gimnasio Nilson Nelson	12:30	6178

The statistics of the game between Argentina and Ukraine tells the story of a closely fought encounter at the Gimnasio Nilson Nelson. Whereas the South Americans had 12 shots on target and 51 per cent of the possession, the Europeans had 11 attempts and 49 per cent of the ball. It is perhaps unsurprising that the game ended all-square, and what a game it was.

Despite all of the goals coming in the second half, the first was an entertaining, even affair. Argentina had the first chance of the game in the fourth minute when Diego Giustozzi's volley went narrowly over. Marco Gimenez also went close, but Vladyslav Lysenko made a smart save.

As the half wore on Ukraine got more into the game and had two good opportunities when Valeriy Legachov fired wide and Oleksandr Khursov saw his close range attempt saved. Lysenko was called into action again twice as half-time approached, but held firm to ensure parity.

Dmytro Silchenko had a wonderful chance to put his side ahead after the restart, but Javier Guisande made a fantastic save. The deadlock was finally broken in the 32nd minute when Leandro Planas fired the ball into the net from close range. Five minutes later, Ukraine were level when a mistake from Argentina captain Carlos Sanchez was punished by Dmytro Ivanov.

Ukraine may have thought that they had won the game in the 39th minute when Sergiy Cheporniuk's lob beat Santiago Elias, but Argentina equalized with 15 seconds to go, Elias finding Giustozzi who made no mistake to give his team a share of the spoils.

Sergio Lopez, Argentina coach
The result was very important as it was a step towards qualification for the next round. However, we still have some work to do to improve the technical side of our game.

Moafak El Sayed, Egypt coach
The hardest thing today was knowing that we had to go out and win. This made the players nervous.