Brazil justified their tag as pre-tournament favourites for the 2005 Americas Futsal Grand Prix with an emphatic 7-3 win over Colombia in the final. Argentina, for their part, took third place on the podium after defeating Uruguay 3-1. The tournament, which was hosted by the Brazilian Futsal Confederation in the city of Brusque, produced consistently high quality action and provided a stern test out for South America's leading national sides.

Victory on home soil gave Brazil their first title since Paulo Cesar de Oliveira took the reins of the national team in April of this year. Speaking after last week's success, which took his tally of consecutive wins with the verdeamarelha to 15, the new coach explained how much victory had meant to his country:  "As I've said before, I'm aiming for long-term change but with immediate results. In that context I'm satisfied. What we've achieved here is significant even though there are still improvements to be made. Furthermore, the win means this generation of players will no longer have to deal with the stigma of being dubbed, unfairly in my opinion, a 'quality side destined to be losers'."

The team's pivot Betao, who finished as tournament top scorer with six strikes, particularly impressed de Oliveira with his performance in the Final against Colombia. "I'm delighted that he spoke well of me. However, I'm only top scorer because of all the work he has done with us. The important thing was that we kept our composure after conceding two goals in the opening five minutes and managed to turn the game around," said the striker who plays for Spanish club Lobelle Santiago.

Franklin, Brazil's goalkeeper, captain and most experienced player at 34, also highlighted his side's ability to dig deep and respond despite having "several young and relatively inexperienced players" in their side. "The future is very promising," the captain added. One player who made a name for himself in Brusque and looks to have a bright future ahead of him is Valdin. "I gained more confidence as the tournament wore on and just hope I did enough to earn a regular place in the side," said the pacy winger.

The Colombians were another side pleased with their week's work. As well as taking the runners-up spot, the cafeteros left with the satisfaction of knowing that only Brazil had been able to find a way past Juan Miguel Lozano in goal. John Pinilla, Colombia's leading player and top scorer in the tournament with three goals, summed up the mood in the camp afterwards: "Our aim was at least to get to the final. We always knew that beating Brazil would be a very tall order. Even though we took a two-goal lead against them early on in the final, they had so many attacking options that in the end we simply couldn't contain them. Nonetheless, our performance will help accelerate the growth of futsal in our country, and so we're leaving here contented."

Argentina took bronze after a hard fought 3-1 win over Uruguay in the 3rd and 4th place game. Speaking afterwards, the albiceleste coach Fernando Larrañaga had this to say: "On the whole it's been a positive experience for us. We have seen once again that when players are not full-time professionals, physical exhaustion takes a significant toll on them in a tournament like this. This was brought home to us when we played Brazil in the semi-final. The tempo in international competitions is at another level, and that's something we need to work on to ensure we have that bit extra next time round." 

The Paraguay coach Juan Carlos Orihuela was another sounding upbeat after the final reckoning. "We made a lot of mistakes here, especially in our group game against Argentina. However, if you take into account that the team we had here was our third-string side and full of very young players, the mistakes were understandable. We're on the right track."

Even Álvaro Guevara, coach of bottom-placed side Venezuela, refused to be downcast. "We have to work not only on our football but also on the psychological side of things. The need for the former was clear from our strike rate: we created innumerable chances but scored just once, while the latter will help give the players the belief they are currently lacking. Against Brazil we were losing by four goals but still in line for a place in the semi-finals. But then they got a fifth and we lost all our intensity. We intend to work on both those aspects of our game so as to continue improving," said the vinotinto coach.

Tournament summary

Group A
Brazil
Uruguay
Venezuela

Group B
Argentina
Paraguay
Colombia

MATCHES
Day 1 - 20/9/2005
Venezuela 0-0 Uruguay
Paraguay 0-3 Colombia

Day 2 - 21/9/205
Argentina 0-1 Colombia
Brazil 5-1 Uruguay

Day 3 - 22/9/205
Argentina 4-3 Paraguay
Brazil 7-0 Venezuela

POSITIONS:
Group A: Brazil 6 points (+11); Uruguay 1 (-4); Venezuela 1 (-7)

Group B: Colombia 6 points (+4); Argentina 3 (0); Paraguay 0 (-4)

Day 4 - 23/9/205
5th and 6th place game
Venezuela 1-5 Paraguay

Semi-finals
Colombia 3-0 Uruguay
Brazil 2-0 Argentina

Day 5  - 24/9/205
3rd and 4th place game
Uruguay 1-3 Argentina

Final
Colombia 3-7 Brazil