FIFA BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP – NO ROOM FOR DEFEAT

RIO DE JANEIRO – Solomon Islands and Russia are headed for a do-ro-die showdown in Group A with the loser all but eliminated from the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup – Rio de
Janeiro 2007. Both teams lost their opening match at the tournament and must now win to have any hope of making it through to the last eight.

Russia’s shock loss on penalties against Mexico came about through a combination of woeful finishing and failure in a shoot-out and now Nikolai Pisarev’s men must find a way to
tackle the Oceania champions before facing the might of Brazil.

Russian player Igor Shaykov warned team-mates to not underestimate the challenge before them – or risk suffering the consequences.

“We absolutely have to win this match. We don’t know much about the Solomon Islands, but if we want to win, we have to stick to our style of play and maybe adapt to the way our
opponents are playing once the match is under way,” Shaykov said.

Solomon Islands have problems of their own with influential James Naka suspended after his red card in the opening defeat against Brazil.

Coach Terry Van Dillen was disappointed with the defending in the Solomon Islands opening match with Brazil and is adamant his team will have these ironed out before facing
Russia.

We will have to keep our cool and make sure we don’t lose our concentration against Russia. Compared with the Brazil match, we will have to make a few technical adjustments,
particularly in defence,” Van Dillen said.

In Group A’s other match, Mexico face Brazil, a match Brazil are, naturally, expected to win. A victory for Brazil and an upset by Solomon Islands would leave Terry Van Dillen and
the Bilikiki Boys very much in with a chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals.

Nobody expected Mexico to take the spoils when they lined up against Russia in the tournament opener. Ramon Raya’s men did just that, though, after edging the eastern Europeans 2-1
on penalties following a 2-2 draw.

Tactical discipline, stout defensive work and deadly finishing were the keys to victory against a Russian team that spurned a succession of clear-cut chances.

“We faced off with a physically stronger and more experienced team. This has been one of the first games in the history of Mexico and we paid the price of inexperience. Yet, the team
was still in pretty good shape in the extra period,” Mexico coach Ramon Raya said.

Date     Kick-off*/**    Match  

06.11.07  14:00         Solomon Islands  vs. Mexico 

*Rio de Janeiro local time

**Time Conversion for Oceania

Vanuatu UTC +11hrs

For full coverage of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup – Rio de Janeiro 2007 click links below: 

FIFA BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP – RIO DE JANEIRO 2007 – LIVE
COVERAGE 

FIFA BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP – RIO DE JANEIRO 2007

Group A