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Corinthians find best version back against Al Ahli

UAE representatives Al Ahli from Dubai fought hard in their second match but went down again at the world beach soccer club championship in Brazil.

Al Ahli had to stomach the reaction of Corinthians after their defeat on Sunday in Mundialito’s (world beach soccer club championship) opener against Sporting Clube.

The Timão das Areias found in the Arab side the victim to restate their role as one of the favourites after their bad beginning, and inflicted Hilal’s side a heavy defeat.

Despite this the spirited UAE team tried to counteract the Brazilian dominion, replying Buru’s opener through Datinha, things just worked perfectly out for Soares’s side today, and Juninho and Yahya made it 4-1 before first horn.

Corinthians took a break in the second period, something al Ahli took advantage of to make things up a bit with Bakhit’s 4-2.

But when the referee blew for the third leg to begin, the Timão got down to work again to secure the points and give themselves the pleasure of a solid victory. André, with two goals, and Krash raised the 7-2 in the score, only to wait for Al Ahli’s reaction, through Datinha, to punish them back with two more hits.

The last goal, by local hero Marcelinho carioca was the perfect end for a match in which the paulista side found the best sensations back after the bitter taste of a difficult beginning to this II Mundialito de Clubes.

Now, they depend just on themselves to get to quarterfinals, needing a victory over Lokomotiv. Not easy, though…

On Saturday, Lokomotiv secured the lead of Group C, also called the group of death.

The Russian victory over Al Ahli, which got blurred during last period, gave the Leonov side the three points plus a +2 goal difference which, although unbelievably, was the biggest difference at the Arena de Guarapiranga.

After a first period in which only a latter hit by Daniel bent the UAE side’s resistance, things got a strong red colour when Leonov and Shaykov sealed the final 4-2 verdict in favour of Lokomotiv.

Later on, Makarov scored the fourth for his side, and the match seemed to be turning into a placid afternoon for the Muscovite.

Notwithstanding, the Al Ahli breed surfaced, and a magic trick by Rami, blasting the ball in from the corner kick point, followed by a well-aimed shot by Borer, were worth for the Hilal-steered squad.

Things got no further than that, and Lokomotiv retained the points, and meaningfully, the two-goal difference to climb to the highest place in Group C, the one they will need to defend against Sporting Portugal.

Match stats

Al Ahli v Corinthians: Goals: 1-0: Buru, min. 9 (1); 1-1: Datinha, min. 9 (1); 2-1: Juninho, min. 5 (1); 3-1: Juninho, min. 2 (1); 4-1: Yahya, min. 1 (1); 4-2: Bakhit, min. 5 (2); 5-2: André, min. 11 (3); 6-2: Krash, min. 9 (3); 7-2: André, min. 5 (3); 7-3: Datinha, min. 1 (3).

Al Ahli v Lokomotiv: Goals: 0-1: Daniel, min. 1 (2); 0-2: Leonov, min. 11(2); 0-3: Shaykov, min. 11 (2); 0-4: Makarov, min. 9 (3); 1-4: Rami, min. 7 (3); 2-4: Borer, min. 5 (3).

sports@khaleejtimes.com