Russia won the final of the Beach Soccer International Cup after defeating Tahiti 5-2. Iran’s victory over Egypt brought Iran the tournament’s third place. Tahiti had a very succesful run, reaching the final after qualifying for the first time to the knock-out stage of the Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup.

The 2(3)-2(2) penalties win for Iran over Egypt was a thrilling match. The tension was palpable as the third period began with a 1-1 score and no clear advantage for either team, until an early goal from M. Abdelnabi gave Egypt the lead. All that changed when Iran tyed the game at 2 with one minute left and after a scoreless three-minute extra-time period, the teams headed into a penalty shoot-out.

Eight teams participated at this fifth edition of the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup, which took place at Jumeirah Beach in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from November 3rd to 7th. The invitation-only tournament has been held annually starting in 2011. The competition is similar to the FIFA Confederations Cup.

IRAN-EGYPT – Match stats
Goals: 1-0: M. Samir, min. 7 (2); 1-1: A. Akbari, min. 5 (2); 2-1: M. Abdelnabi, min. 10 (3); 2-2: F. Boulokbashi, min. 1 (3).
Penalties: A. Naderi: Make; M. Samir: Make; M. Morshedi: Make; A. Aboserie: Make; A. Akbari; Make; Hassane: Miss.

Sources: Mehr News Agency, The National, beachsoccer.com, Wikipedia | Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup, Twitter @BeachSoccer_WW, Twitter @DubaiSC