Levante, Flamengo, Meizhou Hakka and Shahin Khazar reach the semi-finals
Only remaining four sides in the World Winners Cup is now just two wins away from an historic title.
The quarter-finals reduced the hopefuls from eight to four as Shahin Khazar (IRN), Meizhou Hakka (CHN), Flamengo (BRA) and Levante (ESP) win their bouts to reach the last four.
The journey ended for hosts Alanya as they were beaten by the clinical Levante who look unstoppable so far.
Saturday’s semi-finals fixtures are as follows:
Flamengo (BRA) v Levante UD (ESP)
Meizhou Hakka v Shahin Khazar (IRN)
This is how these clubs made it into the final four…
QUARTER-FINALS
Alanya BS (TUR) 5-9 Levante UD (ESP)
The support for local Alanya side wasn’t enough for the hosts to avoid a beating at the hands – or feet – of Levante, who reach a total of 45 goals in the tournament.
It took some time for the deadlock to be broken at the start, but Chiky converted towards the end of the first period to get Levante ahead, but Stankovic put away a penalty to level up before the break.
It was all one-way after that though, as Chiky scored his second and Antonio bagged a brace in the second period after Alanya conceded another penalty. Sanfilippo also contributed to the Spaniards’ five goals going into the final period.
Alanya had a second wind in the final period as Filipe (2), Cem Keskin and Yasin put four away, but Levante hadn’t finished yet, as Chiky took his total to three, one of which was a sublime signature overhead kick, and Antonio scored his fourth of the afternoon!
Their victory earns them a bout against the Brazilian giants Flamengo in the semi-finals.
Flamengo (BRA) 4-2 Krylia Sovetov (RUS)
Flamengo gradually built a comfortable lead over Russian side Krylia Sovetov after an initially tight opening to make the semi-finals.
Not for the first time today, the first period of a high-octane match finished at 0-0 as both sides were desperate to avoid blinking first.
But as soon as Gil opened the scoring for Flamengo with a deflected bicycle kick, Krylia hit back through Zharikov and this is how the sides began the third and final 12 minutes of play.
It was then that Llorenç stepped up to show why he was awarded the Player of the Year award last season, scoring two calmly converted goals to put the match out of reach of the Russians, despite the extensive support they enjoyed in the crowd.
Igor also struck for Flamengo, and with the very last kick of the game, Vinogradov pulled one back to make it 4-2 to give the fans something to cheer as the final whistle sounded.
Llorenç will now play against his Spanish national teammates when Flamengo face Levante in the semi-finals.
Rostocker Robben (GER) 3-10 Meizhou Hakka (CHN)
In the first of the day’s quarter-final bouts, the World Winners journey ended for Rostocker Robben who fell to the might of Portugal’s Martins twins, and will now fight for fifth place.
Spanish beach soccer legend, Ramiro Amarelle has led China’s Meizhou Hakka all the way to the semi-finals after a 3-10 destruction of the German champions.
A hat-trick for Leo Martins took him above Edu Suarez in the top scorer charts, and his brother Bernardo also scored three. Spanish shot-stopper Dona and 2019 Player of the Year nominee, Jordan Santos, also netted, and late goals from Han XG and Lui YS took the final tally to ten.
The German international teammates Basiel and Korner, who had each scored eight prior to this match, increased their tallies to nine and ten to get a consolation for Rostocker Ribben but they find themselves out of the running for the first ever World Winners Cup title.
Copenhagen BS (DEN) 0-7 Shahin Khazar (IRN)
Copenhagen had fought a dramatic comeback and then penalty shootout to make the quarter-finals in their Round of 16 match, but they were swept aside by the unstoppable Shahin Khazar.
Aidin, who has been in prolific form in front of goal so far in Alanya, continued his scoring streak to get the Iranians off the mark midway through the first period.
At this point the match looked tight but Shahin Khazar began to turn the screw as the number 19 netted a second, then Shahriar and Bolokbashi hit a fourth, as Reza Mehrvarz’s men enjoyed a comfortable lead going into the final period.
The Danes remained unable to break through the Iranian backline, but the Shahin strikers kept coming and ended the match with seven, cruising into the final four, while Copenhagen will have to tussle for fifth place in their remaining play-offs.
PLAY-OFFS
Boca Gdansk (POL) 4-3 Real Münster (GER)
Gdansk remain in the race for ninth place with a tight win over Real Münster. The match began slowly and the German defence did well to keep Gabriele Gori relatively quiet.
They saw the first period out without any goals, however, in the second the Italian striker netted a quick-fire hat-trick to take the lead, which the Germans never recovered from, despite netting late goals to pressure the Poles.
Masafi Al Wasat (IRQ) 4-5 BQ All Star Club (THA)
Another tight play-off was level at the first whistle with each side having netted once.
But in the second and third, Masayuki thrust the Thai side in front with a hat-trick. The Iraqis came back to pressure BQ All Stars, but they held out to take the victory by the slimmest of margins.
BSC Vybor (UKR) 4-3 New Team BS (BEL) *AET
The play-off battles were proving tense affairs and Vybor against New Team BS was no exception.
Each side scored once in each period to stay neck and neck every step of the way but when the match inevitably went to extra time, captain Kasatkin hit a late winner to snatch the point with 30 seconds of the match left.
Al-Arabi (KUW) 4-8 Kebbi BSC (NGA)
After a win yesterday, Kebbi continued in positive fashion with a second victory against Kuwait’s Al-Arabi, scoring eight goals in the process.
The first period finished goalless but the match burst into life in the next stages, as the Nigerians won the two remaining periods 2-4, racking up a final score of 4-8.
For more information on the World Winners Cup head to the Beach Soccer Worldwide website.
