DOHA: Spanish giants FC Barcelona yesterday crushed Qatar’s Al Rayyan 6-1 to seal the third spot at the Futsal Intercontinental Cup at Ali Bin Hamad Al Atiya Arena.
In a game devoid of much interest after both sides lost their respective semi-finals on Tuesday, Lassa still managed to dominate play in both halves to push Al Rayyan to fourth spot in the eight-team tournament.
After a few cagey moves, the Spanish giants got off the mark to sound a warning to the home side. Lassa opened the scoring through Aicardo in the 5th minute of the third-place play-off.
Angel Velasco Marugán, known as Lin, doubled the lead for the visitors as Lassa jumped to a 2-0 card in the 14th minute.
Enjoying a surge in momentum, Lassa moved ahead in style when Esteban Cejudo Guerrero found the net by beating Al Rayyan goalie with a slick flick after a solo run in the 19th minute.
Lin added to Al Rayyan woes by scoring Lassa’s fourth goal off a penalty kick in the 27th minute. In the 31st minute, Al Rayyan pulled one back through Christian but Lassa did not relent from their attacking game and powered home a fifth goal through Wilde (35).
Two minutes from time, Lassa fired their sixth goal through Aicardo.
It was Lassa’s third win in four games. Only Magnus Futsal beat them in the tournament in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
Qatar’s Al Rayyan posted two wins from four games.
Commenting on the victory, Wilde Gomes Da Silva of FC Barcelona Lassa said his team’s 6-1 win over Al Rayyan ‘was not an easy game’.
Lassa finished third in the eight-team tournament whereas Al Rayyan grabbed the fourth place.
“It wasn’t an easy game,” Wilde said. “We had lost the semifinals on Tuesday and today we had to face a strong side,” he added. “We came here to win the tournament but we could not. We are disappointed with that but happy to win the last game. Unfortunately, we could not win the tournament.
“This is an awesome venue,” Wilde said of Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena where his team played the last game. “I haven’t seen such a venue. A lot of my friends said the same thing,” he said. “I think we should have more events at this venue. Hopefully we could come back and play here again,” said the Barcelona player.
The Peninsula
