A party atmosphere reigned at the Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena in Moscow on Thursday as the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Russia 2021™ began with a heady mix of music, colour and surprises. And perhaps the biggest surprise of all was served up by the United Arab Emirates in the tournament’s opening game, as a nation that has never reached the knockout stage in six previous attempts secured a 4-3 victory against two-time runners-up Tahiti.

"We're obviously happy and proud, but I'm not overly surprised by the result," UAE forward Hasan Alhammadi told FIFA.com afterwards. "Tahiti are obviously a good team, but we have nothing to be ashamed of in comparison. Our team has quality, and we'll try to prove that for as long as we can here at this World Cup."

A quick glance at the Beach Soccer Worldwide rankings suggests a UAE win was anything but predictable, despite Alhammadi's confidence. So too the scoreline of the last World Cup meeting between the sides, a 3-2 success for Tahiti at the 2013 edition. Indeed, their Moscow reunion looked to be heading for a similar conclusion when the Tiki Toa made the more purposeful start. 



The team from Oceania dominated possession early on and carved out the best chances, meaning few eyebrows were raised when they went on to break the deadlock. However, this was a game of surprises – and Tahiti were in for a shock. First came the equaliser as their opponents responded with defiance to falling behind, and then UAE took the lead at the start of the third period… in surprising fashion.

"That's the second time I've scored a goal like that at a World Cup, so I don't think you can call it a surprise anymore," said Alhammadi of his cleverly worked effort, which caught Tahiti off guard as they waited for an attempt direct from kick-off. Instead, the ball was knocked into space on the right, where Alhammadi drove a first-time shot beyond goalkeeper Franck Revel.

That put Alhammadi and Co on top for the first time, and they stretched their advantage when the unfortunate Dylan Paama scored an own goal minutes later. It was a two-goal cushion UAE still enjoyed with just 15 seconds left on the clock, but this game had yet more twists in store… and 15 seconds was all it took for Tahiti to claw their way back level.



"That's beach soccer," noted Alhammadi. "Everything can happen very quickly at one end or the other. We knew very well that this match would be intense and difficult, right up until the end. We were prepared for that. But we didn't let our heads drop after their equaliser and we had the right mentality to make the difference in extra time."



Perhaps Alhammadi has a point after all. Even so, if he does not consider UAE's win against Tahiti a surprise, would he at least use the 's' word if his team went on to lift the trophy? "No, it wouldn't be one because we have as much of a chance as anyone else," he declared, before conceding with a smile: "But we'd certainly need a lot of luck!"