(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Oman stunned Asian powerhouse Japan 3-2 in a thrilling penalty shootout to emerge champions at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2015-AFC Qualifier yesterday.
In the final held at Katara beach, both the teams were 1-1 in deadlock after extra time, needing shoot out to decide the winner. Oman had taken the lead through their captain Hani al-Dhabat, who slotted home in the very second minute of the game. Japan hit back through their captain Ozu Moreira, who restored the parity in the second period (23 minute). The team's very unable to find the winner even in extra time.
In the shoot-out, Hani, Mandhar and Jalal were on target. For Japan, Ozu and Makino Shinji scored, but Takasuke Goto failed to get past goalkeeper Haitham as Oman won 3-2.
Oman and Japan had already booked their spots at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Portugal 2015 after winning their respective semi-finals on Friday. "I am satisfied with our performance in the tournament. We played some very tough games here and the final against one of the powerhouses in the continent was also a difficult one," a delighted Hani said.
Japan, who have won the AFC Beach Soccer Championship twice before, will feature in their eighth global competition in Portugal, while it will be Oman's second appearance at the Beach Soccer World Cup.
"We tried our best," said the Brazilian-born Ozu. "We'll have to put this result behind us and now try to concentrate on the world cup," he said. "It was a close game against Oman. They are a good side and we matched them in every aspect of the game to take it to extra time. It was quite unfortunate to lose in a shootout," he added.
Oman' supremacy throughout the tournament was such that they maintained a clean slate. In the semifinals, Oman edged Lebanon in a nine-goal thriller, winning in overtime after the game had finished 4-4 at the end of regulation time. Japan had won an equally intense encounter with Iran in the semifinal, by the same 5-4 scoreline, though overtime was not required.
Meanwhile, in the third-place play off, Iran defeated Lebanon 8-3 to clinch the last Asian spot for the World Cup. Iran raced to early lead and never looked back. Lebanon crawled back into the match on multiple occasions but every time they did, Iran was prepared for a counter and had all the right answers.
Both teams knew that a win would send them to the World Cup and the energy, not just from the crowd, but from the teams as well, seemed to make matter that much more tense and fun at the same time.
In other matches, UAE defeated China 5-1 in the fifth-place playoff, while Bahrain beat Uzbekistan 3-2 in overtime to finish seventh.
Just before the final, FC Barcelona beach soccer team delighted the local crowd in an exhibition game against the hosts Qatar. The Catalan giants brought on all their beach soccer experience at Katara as they romped to victory against hapless Qatar 11-1.
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