Futsal – 24-08-2023 23:05
By Eduardo Pedrosa Marques
Benfica started the futsal International Masters Cup with their left foot, after being thrashed (2-5) by Kairat Almaty, in a match for the 2nd round of the futsal International Masters Cup, held this Thursday night, in Portimão Arena, in Portimao.
In what was the Reds’ debut match in the competition – the Kazakh team had already faced Sporting, yesterday, in the opening round, having won by 6-3 -, Mário Silva’s men did not start the challenge well and paid dearly that record, conceding three goals in just nine minutes: Caio Ruiz (3′) and Dener (8 and 9′) gave Kairat Almaty a comfortable advantage.
Still in the first half, more specifically at the 16th minute, Alex Viana, with a cross shot to the upper left corner, increased the contention.
The eagles returned for the second half willing to reverse the course of events and, even though they failed to change the scoreboard’s history, at least they left a much better image than the one they had patented in the first 20 minutes.
And it was precisely the result of an excellent start in the second half that Jacaré, in the 27th minute, gave the best follow-up to an assist by Ivan Chishkala and reduced the disadvantage. Until then, it should be noted, the reds had already wasted some finishing situations, a situation that, moreover, was the mirror of almost the entire second half. And as those who don’t score… suffer, Benfica ended up seeing Kairat Almaty reach the fifth goal, with Caio Ruiz (former Sporting player), with a direct free-kick, scoring twice in the match.
Without ever throwing in the towel, despite the unevenness in the scoreboard, Mário Silva’s men continued to fight close to the opposing goal, and the best they managed was to reduce it to 2-5, at the passing of the 38th minute, with Bruno Coelho to taste the foot.
In the penalty shoot-out – a criterion used in all games of this International Masters Cup, regardless of the final result of each game, and which, if necessary, will serve as a tie-breaker in ranking terms -, Kairat Almaty also won, since he didn’t waste any maximum punishment, while Rocha was the only Benfica player to fail to achieve.
Benfica will be back in action in this competition on Saturday (11 am), against Palma Futsal. For the same day, moreover, two more games are scheduled, cases of Sporting-Anderlecht (15 hours) and SC Braga – Kairat Almaty (18.30 hours)
This year’s edition of the International Masters Cup, held in Portimão and which brings together some of the best teams in the world, ends next Sunday, with the duels Benfica-Anderlecht (11 hours) and Sporting-Palma Futsal (15 hours).
2023-08-24 22:05:00
#Benfica #thrashed #Kairat #Almaty #Bola
