By SHAMAOMA MUSONDA –

Zambia 2 Paraguay 6
ZAMBIA was yesterday knocked out of the 2015 Futsal Grand Prix in Brazil after losing to South American giants Paraguay at the eight-team invitational tournament.
The match saw Enocks Shanchebo and Robby Phiri score the only goals for Zambia who suffered a second successive defeat in Group A having been earlier been beaten by World Champions Brazil.
The loss, which comes on the back of an 11-2 drabbing at the hands of Brazil, who lead the group, means Zambia cannot make the semi-finals of the tournament.
Earlier, in the opening game of the tournament, facing the might of Brazil, Zambia were swept away in a game that saw the Zambian team down 5-1 at the break and before conceding six more in the second game to lose 11-2.
In the other Group A match, Brazil maintained not just their superiority but also high-scoring form as they battered Guatemala 9-0 to qualify to the semi-finals with a game to spare.
Zambia in the last group game plays Guatemala, smarting from the Brazil loss but will be a strong side especially having beaten Paraguay 6-3 in their opening game.
The other African country at the tournament, Angola in Group B, are equally having a bad outing following their 4-2 defeat to Uruguay and were bashed 7-0 by Iran and close the group stage with a match against Colombia.
Teams falling out will now go into a fill-in draw to fight for places from fifth position to eighth.