MEDIA RELEASE
BRAZIL STAMP THEIR CLASS WITH WIN OVER IRAN
Host Nation Outshined by Defending Champions Argentina
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| Holland's Dick Hulshorst (No.5 in orange) / China's Zhang Xiao (No.9 in red) |
It was the most entertaining match of the day, earning the applause of the many supporters from the earlier match between Malaysia and Argentina, where the hosts lost 1-7.
Malaysia , winners over Indonesia on Tuesday, were found wanting against the South American giant and found themselves done in by the silky skills of striker Christian Borruto as the defending champions raced to a 5-1 lead at the break before adding further goals in the second half for the comprehensive win.
In comparison, the Iranians who arrived in the Malaysian capital late on Tuesday night following a delay in their flight because of the cold weather back home complained of jet lag and tiredness. But to their credit they gave a good account of themselves in their bid to protect their own reputation as the kingpins of Asian futsal took the game to the Brazilians.
At times they did everything right but only to find a giant stumbling block in the heroics of the Brazilian goalkeeper Tiago Marinho, who single-handedly denied the Iranians of the goals they fought so hard for.
However, the Brazilians just could not be contained for long, despite missing their inspirational Alessandro Viera, or better known as Falcao, they were always going to be a threat.
Lenisio Texiera opened scoring in the 15th min as they took control of the midfield but only to see some stout defending from the Iranians which restricted the Brazilians to a slender lead at the break.
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| Holland's Jamal El Ghannouti (No.3 in orange) / China's Zhang Xiao (No.9 in red) |
Skipper Vahid Shamsaee rallied his men forward but then again just when they thought they had found the net, the long reach of Marinho was there to save Brazil.
Minthyue Linhares, who is said to be the next superstar of Brazilian futsal completed the score line with his 31st min goal.
Iran coach Hossein Shams:" We played the world's No 1 futsal team and the Brazilians are very strong. Tiredness aside, we did everything right and we played according to plan. I have no complains at all. Not about my players or the score line. But we will get better as the tournament goes along and we will be in the final."
Said Brazil coach, Paulo Oliveira:" We are proud to play Iran who is not a team to be treated lightly. It was an open game and they could have scored first and maybe the final result would have been different. I must admit that we did not have an ideal preparation coming to the tournament here. The players were just back from a one-month holiday and we got them together for a week before flying out to Malaysia."
In the other Group B match, Holland made sure that they are still in the running for a place in the semi-finals of the KL World 5s this year when they pulled out all the stops to beat China 3-1 in their second match in Group B here at the Stadium Negara.
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| Holland's Omar Neijari (No.11 in orange) / China's Zhang Xi (No.6) |
A brace from Karim Ajnane in the 26th and 29th made sure that the Dutch were comfortably in front before China pulled a goal back from Wang Wei in the 31st minute.
China's loss meant that they would be out of contention for the final four. Holland's next match in the KL World 5s will be against Iran tomorrow.
The KL World 5's takes place between 29th January and 3rd February 2008 at Stadium Negara, Malaysia's first indoor stadium and a national heritage building. The event will be telecasted to over 310 million viewers across Asia on STAR Sports with over 100 hours of coverage, comprising 30 telecast hours, including 20 hours of live programming - translating into extensive media exposure for Malaysia.
The KL World 5's will have a total purse of US$150,000, and feature 10 teams in this prestigious tournament. The event is expected to draw futsal fans from Malaysia and the region with the pedigree of the international teams such as Brazil, Argentina, Holland and England will join the likes of Asian champion Iran, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia and hosts Malaysia in action.
ESPN STAR Sports and the Ministry of Youth and Sports have a rich tradition of partnerships stemming from a multi-year strategic alliance signed in October 2005 to raise participation and interest in sport in Malaysia.
FIXTURES (31 Jan, 2008)
| 10am: Australia vs Malaysia | |
| 1pm: Holland vs Iran | |
| 3pm: Indonesia vs Argentina | |
| 6pm: Brazil vs Thailand | |
| 9pm: England vs Australia |
CURRENT STANDINGS
| Group A | |||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | PTS | |
| ARGENTINA | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 6 |
| AUSTRALIA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 3 |
| INDONESIA | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 3 |
| MALAYSIA | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 3 |
| ENGLAND | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 0 |
| Group B | |||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | PTS | |
| BRAZIL | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 6 |
| THAILAND | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 4 |
| HOLLAND | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
| IRAN | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| CHINA | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
About the KL World 5's
The KL World 5's takes place between 29th January and 3rd February 2008 at Stadium Negara, Malaysia's first indoor stadium and a national heritage building. The event will be telecasted to over 310 million viewers across Asia on STAR Sports with over 100 hours of coverage, comprising 30 telecast hours, including 20 hours of live programming - translating into extensive media exposure for Malaysia.
The KL World 5's will have a total purse of US$150,000, and feature 10 teams in this prestigious tournament. The event is expected to draw futsal fans from Malaysia and the region with the pedigree of the international teams such as Brazil, Argentina, Holland and England will join the likes of Asian champion Iran, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia and hosts Malaysia in action.
ESPN STAR Sports and the Ministry of Youth and Sports have a rich tradition of partnerships stemming from a multi-year strategic alliance signed in October 2005 to raise participation and interest in sport in Malaysia.
For more information, please visit www.klworld5s.com
About ESPN STAR Sports
ESPN STAR Sports is a 50:50 joint venture between two of the world's leading cable and satellite broadcasters. As Asia's definitive and complete sports broadcaster and content provider, ESPN STAR Sports combines the strengths and resources of its ultimate parent companies – Walt Disney (ESPN, Inc.) and News Corporation Limited (STAR) – to deliver a diverse array of international and regional sports to viewers via its encrypted pay and free-to-air services.
ESPN STAR Sports showcases an unparalleled variety of premier live sports from around the globe 24 hours a day to a cumulative reach of more than 310 million viewers in Asia. ESPN STAR Sports has 17 networks covering 24 countries, each localised to deliver differentiated world-class premier sports programming to Asian viewers. This includes ESPN Asia, ESPN China, ESPN Hong Kong, ESPN India, ESPN Malaysia, ESPN Philippines, ESPN Singapore, ESPN Taiwan, MBC-ESPN (Korea), STAR Sports Asia, STAR Sports Hong Kong, STAR Sports India, STAR Sports Malaysia, STAR Sports Singapore, STAR Sports Southeast Asia, STAR Sports Taiwan, and STAR Cricket.
On the ground, the ESPN STAR Sports Event Management Group manages and promotes premier sporting events around Asia. ESPN STAR Sports aims to reach consumers at any time, any place and through all new media platforms, both internet and mobile. The multi-lingual, online platforms, espnstar.com, espnstar.com.cn and espnstar.com.tw and footballcrazy.tv interact with millions of users providing them with in-depth sports news, results and competitions. Developed for the sports fan that is constantly on the move, mobileESPN and STAR Sports Mobile delivers differentiated mobile content targeted at its various audiences. mobileESPN enables the serious sports fan to follow their favourite sports more closely than ever before with a combination of specially produced video news clips, in-depth news coverage and analysis. STAR Sports Mobile aims to provide interactive and entertaining opportunities to engage with sports, delivering exclusive video excerpts from leading football clubs Arsenal and Liverpool as well as highlights from STAR Sports original programmes covering opinions, instructional tips and the latest online game reviews.
For more information, please contact:
Abdul Rahman (Twenty Four Seven Sdn Bhd)
Tel: 012-6637454
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