Russia put up a spirited performance in Sunday’s final to defeat Japan 5-2 and lift the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup whose finals they hosted. It is the third time to lift the coveted trophy in their history, having previously triumphed in 2011 and 2013.

The hosts led the showpiece match from start to finish, once again using their physical prowess and collective experience to great effect. Yury Krasheninnikov, who notched a brace and silver ball recipient Artur Paporotnyi, were outstanding for the home team.

Goalkeepers, Maksim Chuzhkov and Stanislav Kosharnyi were brilliant, making crucial saves to repel the Japanese in the final.

In the bronze match, Switzerland overcame Senegal in a highly-entertaining contest. This is the second time the Swiss had finished among the top three, having played in the 2009 final.

“If someone had told me before the World Cup that we’d finish third, I would have signed on the dotted line immediately,” said Switzerland pivot Dejan Stankovic.

“Of course, the defeat by Russia still hurts, but that’s just part of sport. We had the match under control, and that says a lot about us. We deserved this win today. The spirit and mentality of this team were amazing. I’m so proud.”

Senegal goalkeeper Al Seyni Ndiaye said: “Our goal was to reach the semi-finals, and we achieved that, but we could have got to the final – we’ve got the quality for that.

“No excuses, though; we should have played better yesterday and today. But we’ve managed to bring Senegal up to the level of the very best teams in the world. If we work hard, we’ll come back and go even further.”

The Swiss pair of Glenn Hodel, who scored a hat-trick, and keeper Eliott Mounoud, who scored twice, collected the golden scorer and the golden glove respectively.

Awards

Golden Ball: Noel Ott (Switzerland)

Silver Ball: Artur Paporotnyi (RFU)

Bronze Ball: Raoul Mendy (Senegal)

Golden Scorer: Glenn Hodel, 12 goals (Switzerland)

Silver Scorer: Dejan Stankovic, 10 goals (Switzerland)

Bronze Scorer: Takuya Akaguma, 10 goals (Japan)

Golden Glove: Eliott Mounoud (Switzerland)

Winning record

Russia have won all three of the finals they have played in – defeating Brazil in 2011, Spain in 2013 and now Japan in 2021 – and lie second in the all-time winners’ table, two behind the Brazilians and one ahead of Portugal. They also joined those two nations in becoming the third team to lift the trophy on home sand.

History for Japan

Japan became the first Asian nation to achieve a top-three finish at a FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, only two years after ending the tournament in fourth place. Additionally, in winning the bronze scorer award, Japan forward – Takuya Akaguma became just the second player from an AFC country to earn a goal-scoring award.

The previous man to achieve such a feat was Iran’s Mohammad Ahmadzadeh, who, like Akaguma, picked up the award in 2017.

With a total of 302 goals, Russia 2021 is now the highest-scoring FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup ever, surpassing the 286 recorded in Brazil in 2006 and at Paraguay 2019. On average, an impressive 9.43 goals were scored per match.

PHOTO/COURTESY