Timely Italy clinch World Cup bronze

Assis winner
Adriano Foglia, whose last-second extra-time on goal on Thursday condemned Italy to a 3-2 semi-final defeat by Spain, had a happier day as he opened the scoring on seven minutes in Rio de Janeiro. Vladislav Shayakhmetov hit the post before the break but Russia were level early in the second half when Damir Khamadiev set up Konstantin Dushkevich. Khamadiev hit the crossbar, but Shayakhmetov was sent off for a second booking 90 seconds from the end and with time almost expired Assis lobbed Russia goalkeeper Sergey Zuev to clinch victory to give Italy a bronze medal to add to their 2004 silver.

'Deserved' medal
Italy coach Alessandro Nuccorini said: "We put in a great performance and the players got the bronze medal that they deserved." Russia's Oleg Ivanov added: "In 2004, Russia did not qualify for the World Cup, and now we are in the top four. That underlines the development of Russian futsal. We played some excellent matches against strong teams such as Brazil, Argentina and Italy." Brazil, who knocked Russia out in the semi-finals, play Spain for the trophy on Sunday.