Brazil and Spain will Reach the Final, and Falcao will Win it for Brazil

By Tim Sheldon

11/15/2012

It's down to the Final Four in the FIFA Futsal World Cup in Thailand, and the two pre-tournament favorites, Brazil and Spain, have risen to the top.

Spain will face Italy in the first semifinal Friday, and then Brazil will meet Colombia.

(Photo: Falcao celebrates a goal.)

It was wasn't easy for either Brazil or Spain, however. Brazil had to come back from a 2-0 halftime deficit against Argentina on goals by Neto and Falcao before Falcao gave them the winner in overtime. Spain led Russia 3-1 at the half and held on against heavy pressure to win 3-2. Those were the first two goals scored against Russia in the entire tournament.

Argentina was our surprise pick to win the Futsal World Cup, and they came close. And now Colombia has emerged as the surprise finalist from CONMEBOL after upsetting Ukraine 3-1. Colombia barely advanced out of their group and now seem to be getting better with each match.

Italy was down 3-0 to Portugal at the half on three goals by Ricardinho but battled back to tie the match 3-3 and win it in overtime on Humberto Honorio's goal.

Popular favorites Brazil and Spain are our picks to reach the championship final. The match will go down to the wire, and Falcao will score the winning goal to give Brazil the title.

Shots and saves happen so quickly in Futsal that we need top-quality, slow-motion replay to show the definition and skill. With these world class stars, the action is incredibly fast and the technique very clearly defined. Sometimes it takes slow-motion replay to catch it.

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