Adil strikes as UAE stun Oceania champions Tahiti in Beach Soccer

After 35 minutes of struggling against Tahiti, Adil fired in the winner for hosts UAE in their opening game of Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup Dubai 2012 being held in a specially constructed pitch at Festival City.

With just over a minute to go for the final whistle and scores tied 2-2, Adil raced to the Tahitian box, and crossed the ball home to grasp the first points for his side to the delight of the partisan crowd on Tuesday night.

It was a perfect ending to a game which saw Marcelo Mendes' fighting with their backs to the wall after Zaveroni’s opener.

Ali Karim equalised just six minutes afterwards.

Li Fung Kuee tried to push his team closer to the victory, taking advantage of a free kick just a few metres away from the penalty kick line.

UAE kept coming back and Rami finally found the crack in the Tahitian defence in the fifth minute of the final quarter.

Buoyed by this, UAE went for the kill and the dynamic Adil got the winner for his team, leaving the Oceania champions stunned.

UAE's win puts them in a good position to attempt for the tournament’s semifinals from Group A which includes Russia and USA.

Defending champions Russia thumped the Americans 9-1 with Eremeev bagging a hat-trick.

Switzerland opened proceedings with an impressive 7-4 victory over Asian champions Japan with MVP award-holder Dejan Stankovic finding the net four times.

Brazil overcame a spirited fightback by Nigeria 7-3 thanks to a one-minute blitz by Fernando DDI in the final leg.

With the scores tied at 3-3, DDI’s amazing attack finished off all options for the Green Eagles to accompany Switzerland ahead of the table in group B.

Wednesday's schedule

16:45 – Nigeria vs. Switzerland
18:00 – Russia vs. Tahiti
19:15 – Brazil vs. Japan   
20:30 – USA vs. UAE 

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