Courtesy: Fars News Agency


Iran Beat Portugal 5-3 in Brazil Futsal Grand Prix

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran's national futsal squad gained victory against Portugal in Brazil's 2010 Grand Prix competition.

The Asian powerhouse beat their Portuguese rival on Tuesday to stand atop the Group D and take on Argentina on October 21 for a spot in the semifinals of the sixth edition of the tourney.

The Iranian futsal players tied with Russia 2-2 in their opener and trounced Guatemala 6-1 in their second encounter.

Iran have already finished runners-up two times in the competitions five editions.

Last year, the Brazilians defeated Iran 7-1 at the Newton de Faria Stadium and clinched the championships at the 2009 Grand Prix.

Also In 2008, the Iranian squad finished as the runner-up in the Grand Prix de Futsal after it was defeated by the hosts Brazil.

"We will hopefully become runner-up again. Iran is gearing up for the Futsal World Cup and this kind of competition will help us have a better performance," Iran coach Hossein Shams said earlier in August.

The Grand Prix de Futsal, also known as Futsal Mini-World Cup, is an international futsal competition of the same kind of the FIFA Futsal World Championship but with invited nations and held annually in Brazil. It was first held in 2005.


Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com