Russia took a huge step in their quest for gold in the Football 7-a-side tournament of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games when they defeated Brazil 3-0 in a match played at the Olympic Green Hockey Stadium, Pitch 1, on Friday, to claim first place in pool A.
Both teams were already sure of a place in the semifinals after winning both of their initial two encounters, and this match determined which of the two would advance as pool A's winner and which would be in second place.
Russia, like they did against the Netherlands, showed their amazing set piece arsenal, and after a corner kick in the 12th minute, Andrey Kuvaev scored the match's first goal.
Fabiano Bruzzi almost equalized in the 18th minute, but his right-footed effort went begging near the left post.
Kuvaev missed a golden opportunity in the 24th minute when his header went wide from close range, but five minutes later, he made amends by heading home a perfect cross by Alexey Chesmin from the right to make it 2-0. Brazil enjoyed more possession for most of the second half but couldn't quite create scoring opportunities; they went to the half-time break trailing by two goals.
Coach Avtandil Baramidze decided to replace the man who scored twice in the first half, Andrey Kuvaev, and give Mamuka Dzimistarishvili some action time with 10 minutes gone in the second half.
Luciano Rocha almost gave Brazil a lifeline with a powerful shot from outside the area that forced goalkeeper Alexander Lekov into a difficult save.
One minute later, on 51, Pavel Borisov then sent a rocket towards Brazil's goal but found the excellent Marcos Ferreira, who deflected the ball for a corner kick. In the resulting play, substitute Dzimistarishvili captured a rebound in the area and made it 3-0.
Russia will now play against pool B's second-placed team, the loser between Ukraine and Iran, or Iran in case of a draw, while Brazil will play against the winner of that contest, or Ukraine in case of a draw.
The semifinal matches will be played on Sunday.
(BOCOG September 12, 2008)