Twelve years have elapsed since Brazil last claimed the FIFA Futsal World Cup. But thanks to two fabulous penalty saves from Franklin in a heart-stopping shootout, the Auriverde finally ended their long wait to rule the world once again, prevailing 4-3 from the spot after a thrilling 2-2 draw.

Reigning champions Spain sent a message of intent at the kick-off, lining up with five world champions. Brazil responded by showing they were not going to be bossed around, however, contesting every loose ball as if their lives depended on it.

Although both sides stuck firmly to their gameplans in the opening minutes, patiently maintaining possession and waiting for openings to appear, it was the Brazilians who had the edge. Spain's Luis Amado was the busier of the two keepers, and he had to be sharp to deny Lenisio on two separate occasions as well as Cico and Falcao, whose impudent back-heel so nearly put the local favourites ahead.

Relying on quick breaks to unsettle their opponents, the Europeans almost stole the lead themselves after only two minutes, with Amado throwing long for Javi Rodriguez only for Tiago to block alertly.

The longer the game went on the more important the first goal became. Brazil coach Paulo Cesar de Oliveira shuffled his pack up front, even pairing Falcao and the powerful Betao together in a bid to outmuscle the Spanish. But every time his side had a sight of goal Amado was on hand to thwart them, denying Schumacher and Vinicius at the end of two superbly worked counter-attacks.

In the end it took a stroke of good luck for the Brazilians to edge ahead, Marquinho's 27th-minute corner kick deflecting off Borja's face and beating Amado at the near post. Spain refused to capitulate and were level within two minutes when Torras powered home a left-foot drive.

Despite being denied the services of Falcao through injury, Brazil came storming back, with Vinicius restoring the home side's lead by thrashing the ball high into the net after Amado had pulled off two more fine stops. With just three minutes left on the clock, that appeared be that. The men in red had not read the script, however, and forced extra-time when Alvaro poked home at the far post with barely a minute left.

Although both sides went into overtime with five fouls each, the pace did not relent. Not for the first time, Amado and Tiago showed their shot-stopping skills at either end to ensure the title would be decided on penalties. And it was Tiago's replacement, Franklin, who proved the hero of the afternoon, denying Torras and Marcelo to spark wild celebrations at the Maracanazinho.

Holders Spain needed extra-time to see off Italy 3-2 and book a place against the hosts in the final of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Brazil 2008.

The Spaniards began the game in Rio on Thursday slowly, keeping their shape and not committing much to attack. But after five minutes Fernandao broke through the Italian defence and laid the ball on for Daniel, who made no mistake poking past the Italian goalkeeper to open the scoring.

The Spaniards continued to keep control of the contest and limit the Italian attacks. Still, Grana snuck through in the 12th minute and forced Luis Amado into a fine save. Edgar Bertoni was unable to knock home the rebound.

The second half saw Spain keep up the possession and try to control the pace of the game. But in the 27th minute, the Italians finally found a way through their stodgy rearguard. Adriano Foglia outfoxed three Spanish defenders and slammed home a stunning goal.

The Italians then began to pile on the pressure, with Foglia, Saad Assis and Sandro Zanetti all going close to grabbing a lead. However, the game was destined for extra-time.

Fernandao scored in the last minute of the first period of extra time to put Spain in front, But Grana drew level for the Italians after the side decided to throw all caution to the wind (2-2). But their cavalier spirit was not rewarded, as Spain pulled an ugly winner when a shot against the post bounced off poor Foglia - who was a delight throughout these finals - and into his own goal to give the Iberians a 3-2 win.

Spain will now meet Brazil in a classic futsal final on 19 October in Rio.

Spain made sure of top spot in Group F with a comfortable 4-1 victory in the Gimnasio Nilson Nelsen in Brasilia on Tuesday afternoon.

The current world champions were on form from the off and took the lead in the fourth minute when Alvaro capitalised on a defensive error. From then on Spain appeared to be determined to play keep-ball, limiting Paraguay to a handful of opportunities, but also creating few of their own.

Two minutes after the restart it was effectively game over when Fernando scored. Fabio Alcaraz's 34th minute penalty offered Paraguay some brief hope, but this was soon extinguished when Fernandao completed a second half hat-trick with goals in the 37th and 38th minutes respectively.

Spain now meet Italy in the semi-finals, just as they did in continental competition last year and at the FIFA Futsal World Cup in 2004.

Day 13 (Oct 12) game: Spain 2 Argentina 1

A 2-1 victory over Argentina at the Gimnasio Nilson Nelson means that Spain have qualified for the semi-finals of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Brazil 2008.

Argentina were dealt a huge blow on the eve of their match as their captain Carlos Sanchez was forced to miss the game with a leg injury. The injury forced the South Americans into a reshuffle and, as a result, it was perhaps no surprise that Spain looked strong from the start.

Javi Rodriguez, Kike and Torras, but Javier Guisande in the Argentina goal was equal to all of them. Argentina arguably created the better chance of the opening stages when Matias Lucuix forced Luis Amado into a fine save, but in the 15th minute, Spain took the lead when Fernando hammered the ball into the Argentina net.

The reply was almost immediate. Fernando Wilhelm's had saw his shot deflected on to the post by Martin Amas, but they got the goal their efforts deserved when Hernan Garcias slotted the ball home with two seconds of the half remaining.

Ortiz put Spain 2-1 ahead in the 24th minute, but once again, Argentina refused to lie down. Wilhelm rattled the crossbar three minutes after the goal, although that was their only noteworthy effort with the Europeans working hard to contain their rivals.

While Spain celebrate, Argentina now need a win in their final group match against Russia on Tuesday to stand a chance of progressing.

Sergio Lopez, Argentina coach
We’ve played one of the favourites for this World Cup today and we’ve done extremely well. I’m certain the better goal difference will be the decisive factor when it comes to second place in our group.

Venancio Lopez, Spain coach
Argentina didn’t take any risks, but it was a good game from us. The most important thing was winning and hitting our target, a place in the semi-finals.

Day 12 (Oct 11) game: Spain 5 Russia 2

Defending champions Spain struck for four unanswered goals during an eight-minute span in the second half to turn a one-goal deficit into a 5-2 Group F second round victory over Russia at the FIFA Futsal World Cup Brazil 2008 on Saturday.

Goalkeeper Sergey Zuev kept the Russians in the match with two key saves in the first half, but he proved mortal over the final 20 minutes. Zuev denied Javi Rodriguez and Borja in the second and 13th minutes, respectively. Spain, however, beat him in the 13th minute as Marcelo set up Alvaro on a nice pass. The Russians equalised five minute later as Dmitry Prudnikov faked his way past a Spain defender and beat goalkeeper Luis Amado.

Amado gifted Russia a 2-1 lead in the 27th minute when he lost the ball in the corner to Sirilo. He passed the ball to skipper Konstantin Maeskiy, who had little problems shooting into an empty net. But Spain did not put their heads down. Instead, they pushed up. Zuev was up to his old tricks again in the 31st minute, saving a shot by Fernando. But seconds later he could not stop a Torras blast which levelled the scores at 2-2.

Only two minutes later Spain took the lead following a Daniel penalty kick. Trying for the equaliser, Russia replaced Zuev for an extra attacker. But the world champions who took advantage of the move. After the Russians lost the ball, Rodriguez scored into an empty goal in the 39th minute. Seconds later, Amado, the goalkeeper, managed to get possession of the ball and sent a shot from his goal into the Russian net.

Venancio Lopez, Spain coach
We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game given that Russia are a strong side. Finding ourselves behind with ten minutes to go was a difficult situation. Knowing how to cope with situations like this is very important and we managed it brilliantly. Our team never loses its head.

Sirilo, Russia player
We’re still lacking experience. Their equaliser came as a result of some very basic mistakes on our part.

A 3-0 win over Uruguay ensured that Spain pipped Iran to top spot in Group D on goal difference and avoid Brazil in the second group phase.

Spain coach Venancio Lopez must have felt confident going into this match as he rested key men Luis Amado and Kike. His decision paid off as La Furia Roja were good value for their victory over a stubborn and hardworking Uruguayan outfit.

Two goals either side of half-time effectively sealed the outcome of this match. Javi Rodriguez turned the ball in from a corner in the 19th minute for his third goal of the tournament, while Fernando doubled Spain's advantage in the 21st minute, again from a corner kick.

Spain saw the opportunity to kill the game off with a knockout blow and that came just a minute later when Fernando's shot from close range flew past Diego.

Despite Uruguay pressing forward for a consolation, it was not to be and the South Americans head home with just one point to show for their efforts. Spain, on the other hand, who have not conceded a goal in over three and a half games now have their attentions on the next round.

Venancio Lopez, Spain coach
Uruguay defended very well and it was hard for us to create clear openings, but today the most important thing was the result. Are we favourites? We don't see ourselves that way. At the moment we're only thinking about the Russia game, which is key because they're our first second-phase opponents. If we want to reach the semi-finals we have to take it one game at a time.

Gustavo Sanchez, Uruguay coach
Today's match was very important because we went toe-to-toe with the world champions, defending well and creating goalscoring chances. The tournament as a whole has been a great opportunity for this squad of young players. Given time, I'm sure we'll continue to improve.

Spain broke open a close game by scoring three goals in three minutes early in the second half en route to a 4-0 victory over the Czech Republic at FIFA Futsal World Cup on Sunday.

Javi Rodriguez lifted Spain to a 1-0 lead in the opening minute of the Group C match at the Maracanazinho. With just eight seconds on the clock, Torras' goalbound effort was well saved by Tomas Meller, but he was powerless to stop Spain's No7 following up with the rebound. For the remainder of the half, the Czechs were grateful to their goalkeeper who kept Spain at bay.

Spain struck quickly in the opening minutes of the second half to put the game beyond doubt. Marcelo scored in the 21st minute, Daniel converted a penalty kick a minute later before Marcelo found the back of the net in the 23rd minute.

After being held by Iran in their opening match, Venancio Lopez and his Spain side were determined to defeat Libya and they did so comfortably at the Maracanazinho. A total of 23 shots on target compared to Libya's four and 70 per cent of possession tells its own story of a game dominated by the Europeans.

Lopez changed Spain's system to good effect, adopting a quickier and more compact approach and it paid dividends as early as the third minute when Javi Rodriguez put them in front. 13 minutes later they doubled their advantage when Fernando's precise pass found Alvaro who fired the ball home. 2-0 was how it remained at half-time, but it could have been more had it not been for the heroic effort of Libyan goalkeeper Mohamed Alsharif.

Despite vocal support from the crowd and some nice play from Rabie Abdel, Spain's dominance was still apparent in the second half. Lopez's side were content to move the ball around until their opportunity came, which is precisely how Daniel scored the third, and final, goal if the game. It was a confident performance from Spain who face Czech Republic in their next game on Sunday.

Daniel, Spain player
Luckily we managed to get over our first-day nerves and I felt the team played better. We need to keep on winning and get back to our best, but this was an important win because it's a tough group and we don't have the fans behind us here. Every point is worth gold.

Mato Stankovic, Libya coach
I thought we played well even though we had our best two players out with injury. This is all about gaining experience as far as we're concerned, so the result doesn't really surprise me. At the end of the day, Spain are favourites to win the title.