Plucky Argentina win inaugural KL World 5s

espnstar.com – They say it's better to be lucky than to be good –- and Argentina certainly lived up to that saying after a bizarre goal in sudden-death extra time won them the inaugural KL World 5s futsal tournament here today at the Putra Indoor Stadium in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur.

In a match that was dominated by favourites Brazil, Argentina had their goalkeeper Javier Gaston Guisande to thank for keeping them in the match despite the former World Champion Brazilians having the lion's share of possession.

And it was no surprise when the men in trademark yellow opened the scoring in the sixth minute through Pablo de Ribeiro. But the Brazilians were unable to capitalise on the good start and instead found themselves trailing 2-1 at the break. First, Argentina found the equaliser in the ninth minute through Diego Raul Giustozzi and followed up with a well-taken goal from captain Carlos Florentino Sanchez five minutes later.

But the Samba Kings were unfazed. Even when behind, they continued to stroke the ball around the court, testing the Argentinean defence from all angles until they could find a breakthrough. And found one they did. Two minutes after the restart, Pablo found himself in the box with the keeper charging out. Unselfishly, he sent the ball back out to Dovenir Domingues Neto whose accurate left footer gave the keeper no chance.

With so much time left on the clock, Brazilian fans must have been optimistic that they would be cheering home a winner. Brazilian keeper Lavoisier had so little to do that he resorted to doing jumping jacks to keep warm while his teammates kept the Argentineans pegged back in their own half. The Light Blue and White were now relying on the occasional counter-attacks, allowing Brazil to dictate play. The only worry was that Brazil were unable to convert their chances into goals.

As the clock ticked down, Argentinean fans were beginning to sense that they may just snatch a win and they could well have -- had the crossbar been kinder. With four seconds left, Marcelo Fabian Gimenez dribbled his way up the court into a one-on-one position and he chipped the ball over Lavoisier only to see it clip the bar and fly over.

Anything could happen with the match going into extra time and no one could have foreseen the Golden Goal coming so early and in such a fantastical fashion. A minute into the restart, and with the rest of his Brazilian teammates up the playing field, diminutive Lavoisier attempted a clearance only to see it charged down by Argentina's Esteban Carlos Gonzalez. All the jumping jacks in the world could not help Lavoisier to reach the ball as it looped wickedly over his head and into goal.

As the Argentineans celebrated, the Brazilians could only look in stunned disbelief, the realisation creeping in that they have just lost a tournament that they had laid claim to on Day One when they thrashed South Africa by a staggering 30-0. Overwhelmed by the victory, several Argentinean players wept openly with joy.

At the post-match press conference, Argentinean Coach Fernando Larranaga admitted that he remembered little of the match as it has been "a day full of emotion". Furthermore, he added that with several players carrying injuries, they had not been confident going into the final.

Asked the reason for Argentina's victory, he said: "We were resilient. We played zonal football and relied on counter attacks, and we took our chances well. But everyone here, you and I, know that Brazil were the better team. They are certainly better than us, so we are very thankful to have won today and we will savour our victory until we meet them again."

"Muay contento... I am very happy," said Argentinean captain Sanchez, whose only thoughts were on getting back to Buenos Aires in two days' time where his wife and family await.

Argentina leave with their name proudly engraved as the inaugural winners of the KL World 5s and prizemoney of US$50,000. Brazil get US$25,000 as runners-up while Cup semi-finalists Uruguay and Iran earned US$10,000 each.

In the Plate competition, Japan endured a nervous final ten minutes to keep out Thailand 4-3, after the Thais had threatened to turn the tables.

Japan had led 2-0 only to see the Thais clawing their way back to parity. The home crowd at the Putra Indoor Stadium made no secret that they were rooting for the Southeast Asian neighbours.

But Japan did not lose heart and they proceeded to restore a two-goal lead with goals from Sagane Kiyoshi and Fujii Kenta. But when Kanayama Yuki was sent off for a second yellow card, the numerically superior Thais were able to pull one back.

The Japanese were always able to keep their noses ahead in the face of persistent Thailand and they held out to win the Plate and the US$15,000 prizemoney. Thailand went home with US$10,000. Losing semi-finalists Guatemala and Uzbekistan each received US$5,000.

In the day's first final, hosts Malaysia came back from the death to snatch a thrilling win over Indonesia in the Bowl final. Trailing 4-3 with 90 seconds on the clock, Malaysia scored from a direct freekick to force extra time -- skipper Mohammad Faizul's shot deflecting in off the Indonesian wall.

The crowd had barely sat down after cheering the teams back onto the pitch for the extra period when from a tight spot at the far corner, the ball found its way to the middle of the Indonesian goal where an unmarked Addie Azwan had the easiest task of tapping in the Golden Goal for the home team to win 5-4.

The final day of the KL World 5s tournament saw the capacity crowd entertained by three quality futsal matches with memorable moments aplenty.

Having successfully avoided falling foul to the SARS crisis that gripped Asia, the inaugural KL World 5s certainly went a long way towards giving the game of futsal a higher profile and would have created new fans for this fast-paced, highly entertaining form of football.