Newcomer Canada was the surprise of match day 6 of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2006.
The Canadians defeated European champion Spain with 4-0 and secured with the first shut-out of the tournament a place among the best eight teams, sending Spain, one of the competition’s favorites, back home. In the quarterfinals, the Canucks will now face a tough match against Brazil.
The host team had no problems to qualify for the next stage beating the USA with 10:6 in the last match of group A .
France, already qualified before the last group match, did their homework and beat Iran 6-3.
The end of the day was marked by a thrilling fight for the last quarterfinal berth between Poland and Japan. Takeshi Kawaharazuka sealed the place of the Asians in the round of the best eight teams only a few seconds before the end of match despite a 5:8 defeat, leaving the Polish coach Jacek Ziober a very disappointed man.
Japan will now face defending champion France in the next round on Thursday.
After a day off on Wednesday, the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2006 will continue on Thursday (9 November) with the quarterfinals: 9:40 AM (local time/GMT-2) – France vs. Japan; 11 AM – Brazil vs. Canada; 12:20 PM – Portugal vs. Bahrain; 1:40 PM – Argentina vs. Uruguay.