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Seven editions, two champions. Brazil and Spain had monopolised the FIFA Futsal World Cup™. The overwhelming feeling was that instalment eight would belong to one of the sport’s twin superpowers.
Argentina had never finished on the podium, but their target at Colombia 2016 was bigger. “The goal from the very start was the title,” said Fernando Wilhelm. “We knew what a great team we had and we always believed we could triumph.”
Others began to start believing in Argentina after the last 16. Diego Giustozzi’s side scraped past Ukraine thanks to a last-gasp strike by Leandro Cuzzolino in extra time, while IR Iran pulled off a seismic upset and KO’d Brazil.
One superpower down, one to go. And go Spain did in the quarter-finals, racing out of the blocks but falling 6-2 to defeat to Russia. Argentina took care of their own business, thrashing Egypt 5-0. They then upset Ricardinho and Portugal to secure a final showdown with Russia.
Sergey Skorovich had phenomenal talent at his disposal in the shape of Ivan Chishkala, Romulo, Robinho and Eder Lima. So too did Giustozzi. Santiago Basile, Cristian Borruto, Alan Brandi, Leandro Cuzzolino, Maxi Rescia, Nico Sarmiento, Damian Stazzone, Pablo Taborda, the Vaporaki brothers and Wilhelm duly spurred Argentina to a thrilling 5-4 victory.
“It’s the best feeling ever,” enthused Wilhelm. “Words will never do this feeling justice. We’re world champions!
“To be the first team to break the barrier [of Brazil and Spain triumphing] makes it sweeter. And we did it against incredible opponents who had won all six games and scored 36 goals.”
