BRAZIL WINS CONMEBOL CHAMPIONSHIP, WITH URUGUAY AND PARAGUAY CLAIMING THE LAST WORLD CUP PLACES
Brazil claimed in Rio de Janeiro their ninth South American title and qualified along with finalist Uruguay for the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. Paraguay snatched the last World Cup place with a 4-2 win over Colombia. Hence, the same teams claimed the top three positions as in the previous CONMEBOL Championship’s edition.
Group Stage
In Group A, the host team Brazil finished unbeaten on top of their group. Paraguay, only conceding 8-3 to La’ Canarinha’, but came second after comfortable victories over Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador.
Uruguay dominated Group B, with Colombia staying ahead of Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, thus qualifying to the tournament’s semi-finals.
Semi-final
Uruguay was the first team to seal their ticket to Russia, thanks to a breath-taking win over Paraguay. Only one goal during the first two periods, in favour of Uruguay, did not seem to anticipate what was going to happen in the last stage, in which both sides started exchanging strokes to bring on a fantastic beach soccer battle.
In those dramatic 12 minutes, Nico Bella swept Uruguay 2-0 ahead, only to see the Guaraní side counteract with an impressive 3-0 run in just two minutes to turn the score around and command the game 3-2 with just 4 minutes to go. But the Charrúa did not give up and came from behind with Gastón Laduche’s scoring two goals at the very end of the match, setting the final score to 4-3.
The defending CONMEBOL champions, in turn, needed to counteract Colombia’s early opener in the second semi-final, to cruise to the final of the ‘Eliminatorias CONMEBOL al Mundial de Fútbol Playa 2021’. Despite the early goal by Perea and the fierce resistance by the Cafeteros during the first leg, Brazil showed their usual strength and turned things around at the beginning of the middle frame.
Despite their tight advantage, Gilberto’s side kept things under control for the remainder of the game, with Alisson doubling the gap to give his team a comfortable 3-1 lead in the last period.
Finals
In the final on Sunday, Brazil and Uruguay played against each other to decide the South American Qualifier champion, played at the Barra da Tijuca Olympic Park, in Rio de Janeiro.
Both teams started playing cautious, however, a penalty favouring the locals ended up breaking the celestial lock. Edson Hulk scored the first goal, but Uruguay did not give up and eagerly went out in search of equality, but the historic goalkeeper ‘Mao’ saved all attempts with monumental saves.
Near the end of the first period, Zé Lucas made the 2-0, making things more difficult for the Uruguayans, who scored in the third period with a goal of Quinta. However, Hulk buried Uruguay’s hopes by scoring the final 3-1 and La’ Canarinha’ once again crowned undefeated champion of the South American Qualifiers.
All eyes were set on the match for the third place, as only one remaining ticket to the world cup was at stake. Paraguay played Colombia, which turned out to be an even match until Benítez put the ‘Pynandis’ ahead, who struck again in the second period through Medina.
Colombia entered a desperation phase to close the gap, and Paraguay took advantage of that moment to extend the advantage. The Colombian team entered into the game again after a goal from goalkeeper Londoño. However, Paraguay was dedicated to maintaining the advantage to reached their fifth consecutive FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup with a final score of 4-2.
Final Standings
Champions – Brazil
Runners-up – Uruguay
3rd – Paraguay
4th – Colombia
5th – Venezuela
6th – Argentina
7th – Chile
8th – Peru
9th – Bolivia
10th – Ecuador
Source: https://beachsoccer.com/ and https://www.conmebol.com/
Photo credit: CONMEBOL
