The World Cup may be a daunting task for the Socceroos, but Australia claimed some silverware yesterday, beating Thailand in the Australian Beach Soccer Cup final.
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The green and golds were dominant throughout the weekend and finished off the tournament in Wollongong with a 3-1 victory.
Goals to David Zdrilic, Brendan Gan and Peter Crevani ensured the host nation didn’t disappoint a healthy crowd on North Beach.
‘‘We stuck to our game plan and we controlled the game pretty much from beginning to end,’’ coach Airton Andrioli said.
‘‘We did really well as a team, we tend to understand the way we want to play.
‘‘The team was very well disciplined.
‘‘It was fantastic for us to get a result against two international teams who have lots of experience.’’
Australia had earlier beaten Thailand 4-1 in the round matches and knocked off China in a 7-5 thriller on Saturday.
Zdrilic led the charge throughout the tournament and claimed the golden boot, while Crevani took out MVP.
Event organiser Alfredo Esteves was overwhelmed with how well the weekend went.
‘‘The Chinese coach and the Thailand coach and their staff, who are used to playing international tournaments, were very surprised and happy with what they found in Wollongong. They said they want to come again,’’ Esteves said. ‘‘They loved the crowd, the entertainment and the city.
‘‘The crowd was fantastic, I am very happy with how it went.’’
In the Wollongong Beach Soccer Cup, FC One Steel defeated Wollongong BS 7-4, with the help of four Ricky Zucco strikes.
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