Portugal's Ricardinho (left) holds off Gilberth Garro of Costa Rica during their FIFA Futsal World Cup round of 16 match on September 21, 2016, in Cali, Colombia. (Photo: FIFA via Getty Images)
CALI, Colombia – Portugal posted a 4-0 win over Costa Rica on Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup.
With its Round of 16 loss at the Coliseo el Pueblo, Costa Rica – the only one of four CONCACAF sides to progress past the group stage -- was eliminated from the competition after reaching the knockout stages for the first time in four attempts.
The Portuguese took a 2-0 lead on goals by three-time futsal world player of the year Ricardinho, who finished brilliantly in the fifth minute -- off a spectacular through-ball from Bruno Coelho – and then again in the 22nd minute.
Andre (26’) and Tiago Brito (27’) also scored the Europeans, who will next face the winner of Thailand-Azerbaijan on September 25.
