Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay off to Chinese Taipei
(FIFA.com) 10 Sep 2003
Argentina, Brazil and hosts Paraguay booked their passage to the FIFA
Futsal World Championship Chinese Taipei 2004 by finishing in the top
three spots of the newly enlarged 10-team Copa America. In what must
rank as one of the biggest shocks in futsal history, the Albicelestes
edged Brazil to claim the South American title for the first time in
their history.
Unbeaten champs
Under the stewardship of Fernando Larranaga, Argentina went through the
tournament unbeaten, upsetting hitherto undisputed regional futsal
supremos and three-time champs Brazil in the process. Playing a varied a
nd slick style of futsal, the Albicelestes rolled over Ecuador (6-2) and
Venezuela (5-1) in their first round matches.
Captain Carlos Sanchez and his cohorts then drew with hosts Paraguay (2-2),
while favourites Brazil thrashed Uruguay (8-1). The Argentinians then knew
only a historic victory over the Auriverdes in their next match would be
enough to win them the title. And so it proved: a single goal by Marcelo
Jimenez in the Complejo Deportivo sports complex in Asuncion, home to the
Sol de America club, proved enough to hand the Selecao a first defeat in
the South American tournament (1-0). Argentina's finest futsal hour had
come, and Brazil had failed to find the net for the first time in the
history of the competition.
Argentina were crowned champions when they brushed aside Uruguay (7-4)
in their last outing.
“I knew we’d be champions when we beat Brazil,” Larranaga told FIFA.com.
"We showed the remarkable progress we’ve made over some eight years. We
are at our peak now, while the other teams are all rebuilding.”
Brazil and Paraguay through
In the first round, the three-time world champions lived up to their
billing as favourites by trouncing Colombia (10-3) and Bolivia (5-3).
But in the second round, even with talents like Pablo, Indio, Neto and
Micky in their ranks, Fernando Ferretti’s Brazil fell to Argentina.
Nevertheless, the Auriverdes picked themselves up and earned second
place by overpowering Uruguay (8-1) and Paraguay (8-4).
Hosts Paraguay claimed a deserved third place much to the joy of the
home crowds. The Guaranis, with their three talented Villalba brothers
(Walter, Rene and Carlos, who was topscorer in the tournament) finished
top of Group C. A maximum points tally of 9 points resulted from easy
wins over Chile (16-2), Uruguay (4-0) and Peru (5-2).
Adolfo Ruiz Diaz’s side then held Argentina (2-2), before thrashing
Uruguay again (9-4), a win that ultimately proved synonymous with
qualification. Brazil proved just too strong (4-8), but the Charrua's
defeat to Argentina meant the hosts had done enough to earn their ticket
to Chinese Taipei.
“We’ve achieved our main objective, which was to qualify for the World
Championship, especially as we missed out the last two times,” said the
Paraguayan coach. “But we’re delighted to have gone so far in this
competition and come so close to winning it. We could have been crowned
champions had we not cracked in the last ten minutes against Brazil.”
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