1995 Beach Soccer World Championship

The 1995 Beach Soccer World Championship was the first edition of the Beach Soccer World Championships, the most prestigious competition in international beach soccer contested by men's national teams. It was organised by Brazilian sports agency Koch Tavares (one of the founding partners of Beach Soccer Worldwide), with the championships ultimately coming under the control of FIFA in 2005 and subsequently rebranded as the better known FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

1995 Beach Soccer World Championship
I Mundial de futebol de areia
Official logo
Tournament details
Host countryBrazil
DatesJanuary 24 – January 29
Teams8 (from 3 confederations)
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions Brazil (1st title)
Runners-up United States
Third place England
Fourth place Italy
Tournament statistics
Matches played16
Goals scored149 (9.31 per match)
Top scorer(s) Zico
Altobelli
(12 goals)
Best player(s) Zico
Júnior
Best goalkeeper Paulo Sérgio

The tournament took place at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The hosts and heavy favourites[1][2] Brazil won the tournament by beating the United States 8–1 in the final, coming from behind to claim their first world title.

The tournament was immediately deemed a success, leading to the instant scheduling of a second World Cup the following year.[3]

The event was notable for featuring many high profile ex-association footballers, fuelling its popularity, including the likes of the Brazilians Zico, Júnior and Cláudio Adão, Italian 1982 World Cup winners Alessandro Altobelli and Claudio Gentile, Franco Causio, England's Gary Stevens and Luther Blissett, West German international Rainer Bonhof and brothers René and Willy van de Kerkhof of the Netherlands' 1978 World Cup runners-up squad.[3]

Background

In 1994, Koch Tavares organised the first international beach soccer competition in Brazil, the Mundialito de beach soccer, a small 4-team event, in view of understanding how commercially successful beach soccer could be in the region.[4] It featured Brazil, Argentina, Italy and the United States and was dubbed an "unofficial World Cup". The Mundialito was deemed a huge success, which gave Koch Tavares the incentive to organise a fully-fledged international competition.[5] This conception materialised a year later in 1995 as this, the maiden Beach Soccer World Championships – a larger and longer eight team event compared to the Mundialito.

Organisation

Format

The following format was decided upon by the organisers for the maiden edition of the championships: the eight participating nations competed in two groups of four teams in a round robin format. The top two teams progressed straight to the semi-finals from which point on the championship was played as a knock-out tournament until a winner was crowned with an additional match to determine third place.

Miscellaneous

The launch of the tournament took place from 12:30 onwards on January 18th at the Rio Internacional Hotel which involved the press and guests attending to see the opening presentation of the World Championships as well as explanations of the rules of the newly founded sport and the tournament's schedule.[6] Furthermore, the Brazilian team was also revealed to the press and engaged in interviews.[7]

The presence of Zico as part of the Brazilian squad, who made over 70 appearances for the Brazilian national association football team, gained considerable attention in the local press prior to the start of the championship.[6][7][8] Zico revealed at the launch he accepted an invitation from his friend and Brazilian team captain, Júnior, to play at the event, despite claiming to be "out of shape"[7] now aged 41, having retired from football a year earlier.

Following the launch, official training for the World Championships began the next day on January 19th on pitches external to the beach arena, in front of Copacabana Palace,[8] concluding with training sessions inside the arena on January 23rd.[9]

The draw to split the eight teams into Groups A and B was conducted on January 21st at the Rio Internacional Hotel. Brazil and Argentina were allocated as heads of the two respective groups, with the other six teams then drawn to accompany them.[10]

The Championships were part of the 1st Olympic Summer Festival (Festival Olímpico de Verão),[1] taking place in the Copacabana beach arena with a capacity of 12,000.[4] Entry to all games was free of charge for fans.[10]

In total, US$1 million (1.6 million in 2017) was invested into the organisation of the tournament, including payment for the players who participated.[3]

Teams

There was no qualification process for the first Beach Soccer World Championships; nations were simply invited to play. However such invites were not random – specific nations were summoned.

Koch Tavares, the tournament organisers, decided that as the first World Cup of beach soccer, since the sport is a derivative of association football, it would be fitting for the six winners of the FIFA World Cup of football throughout history (as of 1995) to field a team in Rio (being hosts Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Uruguay, England and Germany) and as such the aforementioned nations were invited to play, all of which accepted the opportunity.[5]

To make up the numbers, the Netherlands and the United States, despite having never won a FIFA World Cup title, were also invited as "guests".[6]

Africa, Asia and Oceania were unrepresented.

Group stage

Group A
Pos Team Pld W W+ L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Brazil 3300318+239Advance to knockout stage
2 Italy 3201151506
3 Uruguay 3102181803
4 Netherlands 3003730–230


Italy 7–6 Uruguay
   
Copacabana beach
Brazil 16–2 Netherlands
   
Copacabana beach
Italy 6–1 Netherlands
   
Copacabana beach
Brazil 7–4 Uruguay
   
Copacabana beach
Uruguay 8–4 Netherlands
   
Copacabana beach
Brazil 8–2 Italy
   
Copacabana beach

Group B
Pos Team Pld W W+ L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 United States 3300114+79Advance to knockout stage
2 England 31021112–13
3 Germany 3102812–43
4 Argentina 310246–23

Note:

  • Argentina, England and Germany were tied on 3 points each and one win against each other and the same goal difference (0) in their head-to-head records
  • The nations were then ranked based on goals scored in the matches between the three in the head-to-head results (ENG 9, GER 7, ARG 3)


United States 5–1 Germany
   
Copacabana beach
Argentina 3–2 England
   
Copacabana beach
England 7–6 Germany
   
Copacabana beach
United States 3–1 Argentina
   
Copacabana beach
Germany 1–0 Argentina
   
Copacabana beach
United States 3–2 England
   
Copacabana beach

Knockout stage

January 27th was allocated as a rest day.

Semi-finals
United States 4–3 Italy
   
Copacabana beach
Brazil 13–2 England
   
Copacabana beach

Third place play-off
England 7–6 Italy
Osman  14'
Blisset  20', 34', 36'
Cunningham  25', 36' (p)
Stevens  35'		 Report  6' Causio
 8' (p), 9' (p), 31' Altobelli
 14', 26' Soldá
Copacabana beach
Referee: Edmundo Lima Filho

Final
Brazil 8–1 United States
Neném  14'
Zico  17', 19' (p), ?'
Renan  18' (p), 36'
Edinho  24'
Junior Negão  27'		 Report  9' Thompson
Copacabana beach
Attendance: 12,000
Referee: José Roberto Wright

Winners
 1995 Beach Soccer World Championship
Champions 

Brazil
First title

Awards
Top scorers
Zico Alessandro Altobelli
12 goals
Best players
Júnior Zico
Best goalkeeper
Paulo Sérgio

Final standings
Pos Grp Team Pld W W+ L GF GA GD Pts Final result
1 A  Brazil 5 5 0 0 52 11 +41 15 Champions
2 B  United States 5 4 0 1 16 15 +1 12 Runners-up
3 B  England 5 2 0 3 20 31 −11 6 Third place
4 A  Italy 5 2 0 3 24 26 −2 6 Fourth place
5 A  Germany 3 1 0 2 8 12 −4 3 Eliminated in
Group stage
6 B  Uruguay 3 1 0 2 18 18 0 3
7 B  Argentina 3 1 0 2 4 6 −2 3
8 A  Netherlands 3 0 0 3 7 30 −23 0
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References
  1. "Brasil tem Zico como reforco". Jornal do Brasil (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro. January 19, 1995. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  2. "Brasil e favorito no Mundial". Jornal dos Sports (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro. January 24, 1995. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  3. Dattoli, Vicente (January 30, 1995). "Esporte ganhara circuito internacional". Jornal do Brasil (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  4. "Beach Soccer" (in Portuguese). kochtavares.com.br. 1 February 1998. Archived from the original on 1 February 1998. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  5. "Beach Soccer promove mundial em Copacabana". Jornal do Commercio (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro. January 2, 1995. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  6. "Zico sera atracao do Beach Soccer". Jornal dos Sports (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro. January 16, 1995. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  7. "Zico reforca o Brasil o Mundial de futebol de areia". O Fluminense (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro. January 19, 1995. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  8. "Brasil completo no Beach Soccer". Jornal dos Sports (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro. January 18, 1995. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  9. "Zico e Altobelli sao atracoes no Mundial". Jornal do Brasil (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro. January 23, 1995. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  10. (Note that other articles dated before the 21st claim the draw was to take place at the beach soccer arena on Copacabana beach, however this article referenced, dated after the draw, suggests an unexplained decision to change location of the draw in the meantime, and that it happened at the Rio Internacional Hotel.)"Brasil estreia contra Holanda no beach soccer". Jornal dos Sports (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro. January 23, 1995. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
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