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If Lithuanians were to defeat Costa Rica on Saturday and that would help them secure a ticket to the knockout stages, their opponents in the quarterfinals would be the teams of the Russian Olympic Committee, Moroccans or Portuguese. The latter secured their second victory on Thursday, with Ricardinho scoring his first goal of the tournament. During the four Wednesday matches, a total of 18 goals were scored, making it the most goal-filled day of the tournament. The Portuguese stood out the most in this regard, and their opponents from the Solomon Islands remain the only team that has not scored a single goal in two matches, while Thailand and Morocco failed to produce a winner.
RESULTS:
Panama - Vietnam 2:3 Solomon Islands - Portugal 0:7 Brazil - Czech Republic 4:0 Thailand - Morocco 1:1
FONTOS PORTUGAL GOL ISMÉT MEGKEZDŐDÖTT? The duel against the most exotic team of the tournament (Solomon Islands) started for the Portuguese with a powerful goal by Paolo Coelho after a pass from Ricardinho. Soon Ricardinho himself scored in this championship, and the Portuguese calmly headed towards victory. The end of the first half was particularly memorable, with Coelho scoring a fantastic goal from a corner kick lifted high by a teammate, forcing the opponents' goalkeeper to capitulate.
The second half was essentially a formality. The Islanders made mistakes, and the Portuguese scored four more goals. Will we see Portugal playing against Lithuania? It will be known soon. By the way, after the match, both teams did not rush to leave the field - several Solomon Islands players wanted to immortalize themselves with one of the best futsal players of all time, Ricardinho, who gladly posed for photos and did not lose his smile.
SAVED VIETNAM The way the Vietnamese started the match did not at all suggest that such drama awaited these teams. Two set-piece situations in the first half gave Vietnam a two-goal lead and a huge psychological advantage. However, at some point, the Vietnamese started to think too highly of themselves, allowing Panama to come back.
By the way, there was a situation in these matches similar to yesterday's Lithuania vs. Kazakhstan match, when the ball hit the inner frame of the goal but eventually bounced out. Just like yesterday, the referees did not count the goal. Hieu Nguyen secured the match point by overcoming two opponents and sending the ball into the net. The Panamanians replaced their goalkeeper with a fifth player, besieged the Vietnamese goal, but it did not bring results.
CZECH STRUGGLE AGAINST BRAZILIAN TECHNIQUE To say that the Brazilians won very easily would be unfair. Just like saying that the Czechs deserved more. These matches somewhat resembled the Lithuanian national team's resilience against a stronger opponent. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work out in such cases.
With the score still 0-0, the Brazilian goalkeeper struck in such a way that the ball ricocheted into the crossbar and post. The Czechs could have also scored before the half, but both teams failed to score the first goal of the championship before the break.
The hero of the first Brazilian championship match and one of the best players in the world, Ferrao, with individual actions, brought the Brazilians ahead, also scoring his fifth goal and becoming the tournament's top scorer. A minute later, the same Ferrao doubled the lead and scored his sixth goal in two matches.
As the match ended, Brazil demanded a penalty, and after a video review, the referees agreed, increasing Brazil's lead from three to four goals. FIRST DRAW OR THAILAND'S RESCUE A Moroccan player faced one-on-one, but the winner in this situation was the Thai goalkeeper. The Moroccan team players activated their game, but it did not lead to any results. Thailand went on a counterattack but did not take advantage of the opportunity.
One of the more unusual video review requests from the Thais, which resulted in the ball being returned from out of bounds. All these episodes were created while the score was still 0-0. Then the clock started counting the eighteenth minute, and a counterattack from Morocco gave the team the lead in the match.
The Moroccans had several great opportunities to double the lead, but they did not take advantage of them and were eventually punished - the Thai team played with five without a goalkeeper and, with just twelve seconds left, created a chance that turned into an equalizing goal.
No miracle happened in the last twelve seconds, and in this way, the first tie of the championship was recorded.
ANNOUNCEMENT Group stage matches will continue in Vilnius and Klaipeda on Friday. In the capital, Iran and the United States will meet at 6 pm, followed by the intriguing clash between Serbia and the world champions, Argentina, at 8 pm.
Meanwhile, in Klaipeda, the action will kick off at 6 pm with the clash between the national teams of Spain and Japan, followed by Angola and Paraguay taking the court at 8 pm.
