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Sport360 - The UAE’s hopes of qualifying for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup went up in the smoke after they were thrashed 6-2 by Iran in the third-place play-off at Al Musannah Sports City in Oman.

Iran were off the mark immediately with a two-goal lead.

The UAE, however, came back strongly and were trailing 3-2 just two minutes before the final whistle after Mohammad Abbas and Mohammad Hassani had narrowed the deficit.

But a penalty in favour of Iran put paid to UAE’s hopes after Adel Ali and Rashid Hassan were red-carded, which permitted Iran to add three more goals as they sealed the final qualifying spot for the 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

This is the fourth time that Iran will participate in the World Cup.

Earlier, Japan defeated hosts Oman to emerge as champions. Oman, backed by a home crowd of over 3,000, took the lead when Is’haq struck early. But Take and Arakaki scored as Japan rejoiced a well-deserved title win.

Both teams had grabbed the first two places of the qualification after entering the final.

In the semi-finals, Japan edged past UAE 2-1 and Oman thumped Iran in the other. Japan scored in either half to enter the final while Ali Karim scored for the UAE.

It was a disappointing end to the UAE’s campaign who had performed well in the group stage beating Indonesia, Uzbekistan and Bahrain to top the group.

In the quarter-finals, UAE defeated China 5-1 to enter the semi-finals before being shut out.
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