First Spain fell victims to a giant-slaying. Then Portugal followed suit. Uzbekistan 2024 had, as the masses had foreseen, become the most shock-splattered FIFA Futsal World Cup™ of all time. Argentina, despite facing a team at their first global finals in 24 years, were taking no chances in the last 16.
“We took this game very seriously,” insisted Nico Sarmiento. “We saw what happened to Spain, Portugal. We knew Croatia were a very strong team.”
Strong? Absolutely. Strong enough to unseat Argentina’s crusade towards a third consecutive final? Not quite.
Alan Brandi, with his seventh goal of the tournament, fired Matias Lucuix’s side into an early lead, and they never looked back. Two-nil is how it finished. Argentina had secured a quarter-final against Kazakhstan, Portugal’s conquerors.
“We knew that if we lost, we would go home,” said Brandi. “We saw this happen to big teams. I think we played a great match and deserved to win.”
“As a keeper, it’s always a pleasure to keep a clean sheet,” said Sarmiento. “The most important thing was to win the match. We knew it was going to be a really tough game and it was.
“The result speaks for itself. We defended well, we were good with the ball. We were at our best level. Of course there are a couple of things we’d do differently, but overall that’s the way we want to play. We’re really happy.”
Argentina must now crack the Kazakhstan conundrum. It’s one indebted to Higuita, a goalkeeper so good with his feet that he’s credited with changing the way an entire sport is played.
“It will be very difficult because they are very, very good with the flying goalkeeper,” warned Brandi. “We’ll study them and do our best.”
Sarmiento has immense admiration for the record five-time Best Men’s Goalkeeper.
“He’s unbelievable,” said the 31-year-old who won the adidas Golden Glove at both Colombia 2016 and Lithuania 2021. “He’s the best or one of the best goalkeepers in the world, depending on who you ask.
“He’s amazing in the goal, he can make spectacular saves. Then he makes it a different game because of what he can do with his feet. With his feet, there are no words to describe him.
“This creates a problem for any team, even the very best. Playing against Higuita is different, you have to find a way to deal with it. Personally I always want to play against the best players, so it will be great to share the court with Higuita again.
“Kazakhstan are incredibly tough opponents. They’ve been playing together for a lot of years. Their players have really good connection. It’s going to be a war. We will have to be at our very best.”
Sarmiento knows Higuita hikes Kazakhstan’s hopes, but he believes Argentina have their own X factor. The Albiceleste as a whole scored 11 goals to reach the quarter-finals in 2016, when they went on to lift the trophy, while pivots Cristian Borruto, Brandi and Matias Rosa had netted 14 goals in four games between them at Uzbekistan 2024.
“I love playing with them,” said Sarmiento. “They give us so much confidence and security. We know that if the ball gets to them, they’ll score. It’s a great feeling for the whole team. They’re playing well. For me we have the best pivots in the world.”
