Dubai: Former three-time champions Russia made their intentions clear with a whopping 6-2 win over Mexico, while Iran slammed Paraguay 5-2 to open with positive results on the opening night of the Seventh Huawei Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup being held at Marasi Business Bay.
Winners here in 2011, 2012 and 2015, Russia had a strong hold on the match from the start as five different players scored to make it 5-0 by the end of the second period. Vladislav Aksenov opened the score, while Yury Krasheninnikov, Alexey Pavlenko, Boris Nikonorov and Kirill Romanov got their names on the scoresheet.
Mexico tried to fight back with goals from Jose Ramon Maldonado and Ulises Torres, but Nikonorov added his second to bag full points and put Russia firmly on top of Group B standings.
In the final match of the night, Iran woke up in time to earn full points with a hard-fought 5-2 win against Paraguay. Captain Mohammad Ahmadzadeh put the Iranians in the clear at the end of the first period, but Paraguay came right back with two quick strikes from Luis Alberto Ojeda and Carlos Alfredo Carballo Ruiz to make it 2-1 in favour of the South Americans.
Amir Hossain Akbari put the teams on level terms and then Iran took the lead once again when Seyed Ali Nazem scored. Moslem Mesigar got his name on the scoresheet with 3.12 minutes remaining and skipper Ahmadzadeh put things out of reach within a minute to wrest full points and set up an interesting encounter against Mexico on Wednesday.
Earlier, reigning world and defending champions Brazil and former champions Portugal had opened the tournament with contrasting wins to open the tournament. Brazil took their time before overcoming African champions Egypt 11-3, while Portugal left it late for a well-contested 6-4 victory over hosts the UAE.
On Wednesday, the highlight will be the Group A clash between reigning world champions Brazil and European giants Portugal at 5.30 pm.
Russia x Mexico 6-2
Iran x Paraguay 5-2
Brazil x Egypt 11-3
Portugal x UAE 6-4
Playing on Wednesday (16:15) UAE x Egypt (Group A); (17:30) Brazil x Portugal (Group A); (18:45) Paraguay x Russia (Group B); (20:00) Mexico x Iran (Group B)
