Argentina has put an end to the Qantas Futsalroos FIFA Futsal World Cup campaign with an accomplished 7-1 victory at the Nimitbutr Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Argentina has put an end to the Qantas Futsalroos FIFA Futsal World Cup campaign with an accomplished 7-1 victory at the Nimitbutr Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Despite a goal from Tobias Seeto, his second of the competition, the Qantas Futsalroos were outdone by a slick and powerful Argentine outfit with the Albiceleste doing more than enough to justify their place in the Round of 16.
The Qantas Futsalroos got off to a horror start conceding the opening goal of the match after only 43 seconds. Daniel Fogarty had intercepted a stray pass and was bearing down on goal when he was unceremoniously brought down by Cristian Borruto who was cautioned for the foul. From the resulting free-kick Fernando struck the wall and the ball rebounded all the way back to Qantas Futsalroos goal keeper Peter Spathis. Spathis seemed to have an age as he attempted to clear only for the ball to strike Borruto on his raised foot and trickle back past Spathis and into the net for an unfortunate opener.
The Argentines then hit the crossbar from their next attack as the Qantas Futsalroos attempted to settle their early nerves. Fernando replied with a shot on the turn from the edge of the penalty area that skimmed off the outside of the post but it was Argentina who upped the tempo again having a goal rightly denied as the ball went out of play before being tucked into the back of the net by Matias Lucuix.
This Qantas Futsalroos team is full of self-belief though and they drew level after five and a half minutes. Seeto collected the ball just inside the Argentine half and advanced down the left channel before unleashing a fierce low shot that zipped across the court and flashed in off the fast post with Albiceleste ‘keeper Santiago Elias well beaten for his second goal of the tournament. Parity wasn-t to last long though.
Just over a minute later Argentina produced a well-crafted move on turnover all that resulted in Borruto strolling past an attempted challenge and drawing Spathis before laying the ball on a plate to Leandro Cuzzolino who couldn-t miss, tapping into the open goal from a metre out. The Qantas Futsalroos were then denied a decent shout for a penalty for handball before Spathis made a stunning save with his trailing leg when it seemed certain that Martin Amas would make the score 3-1.
Spathis was at his best again pushing away a thunderous strike from Borruto but was powerless to prevent the outstanding Lucuix from extending the Argentine lead as he skipped round the stricken goal keeper to slam home Argentina-s third in the 14th minute leaving the Qantas Futsalroos with much to do in the second half.
To have any chance of getting back into the game, the Qantas Futsalroos really needed to score first in the second half but, after a bright opening, it was Argentina who struck. After losing Lucuix to an ankle injury they broke off the resumption of play and Alamiro Vaporaki turned outside Chris Zeballos to thump a shot past Spathis and into the bottom corner. At 4-1 down, the Qantas Futsalroos had the proverbial mountain to climb.
That mountain took on Everest proportions in the 27th minute as Argentina took advantage of a cheap turnover of possession in the centre of the court and played their way through the Australian defence to allow Hernan Garcias the time and space to pick his spot and finish with a neat slot past Spathis into the corner. Australia kept plugging away though and a rasping shot from Giovenali went just over the crossbar.
Nathan Niski was denied a FIFA Futsal World Cup goal by a fine stop from substitute goalkeeper Matias Quevedo as the Qantas Futsalroos looked to end their campaign on a high with the replacement South American shot-stopper also called into action to block a Seeto effort from close range.
It was Argentina who was to have the last word though with another well-worked goal. Alan Calo had threatened twice to score sublime individual goals before hitting a snap-shot from outside the area that squirmed underneath Spathis and just about crept over the goal-line despite the retreating ‘keeper-s attempts to claw it away. And when Borruto made it seven with barely a minute to go, it was all over for the plucky Qantas Futsalroos.
“We were beaten by a better team,” admitted Qantas Futsalroos Head Coach Steven Knight. “I asked before the match that the players believe in themselves and a few of them stood up tonight. Argentina has a World class team and we battled with them for large parts of the match after going behind early.
“I-m a little disappointed with the amount of goals we conceded as we obviously did not set out to lose by those margins. However, along the way we have played some good Futsal and the effort has been top drawer. When you are playing against full-time professionals it-s tough to keep your concentration for the whole match. Nevertheless, I am proud of the team and what they have achieved.”
In the other group D match Italy sealed top position with a 5-2 victory over Mexico.
Qantas Futsalroos 1 (Tobias Seeto 05:31-) Argentina 7 (Cristian Borruto 00:43-, 38:41-, Leandro Cuzzolino 06:54-, Matias Lucuix 14:39-, Alamiro Vaporaki 21:43-, Hernan Garcias 27:29-, Alan Calo 36:28-)
Nimibutr Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand