Portugal thrashed the already eliminated USA 8-1 at the Maracanazinho, and moved a step closer to the next round in the process.

The Iberians found themselves 2-0 up inside the opening three minutes using the same formula, an assist from Arnaldo and a goal from Leitao. They looked completely dominant; pacy, precise and with a real cutting edge.

Although Portugal kept up the pressure, they soon found it tough to create chances and gave the USA a chance to get into the game. However, the Americans could not take their opportunity and the game fell away from them even further when Goncalo fired home just 30 seconds into the second half.

Arnaldo, Jardel, Bibi, Cardinal and Leitao all grabbed goals in the final 20 minutes as Portugal produced a wonderful exhibition of football and there was even time for Leitao to complete his hat-trick. Sandre Namouski's 36th minute goal was scant consolation for the US.

Portugal now meet Thailand in Brasilia on Wednesday hoping to qualify for the second round, while USA head home after suffering four defeats in their four matches played at this year's tournament.

Italy, the runners-up at the FIFA Futsal World Cup Chinese Taipei four years ago, looked impressive at the Maracanazhino today as they came from behind to beat USA 6-1 in the Group B encounter.

With Sandro Zanetti and Adriano Foglia once again looking threatening in attack, it was somewhat surprising when Andy Rosenband put the USA ahead with just five minutes on the clock. However, the Europeans went into the half-time interval ahead thanks to goals from their influential striking duo.

It was largely the same story in the second half. USA did have chances to equalize, but when Patrick Nora's deflected shot found the back of the net, their hopes of sharing the spoils ended. Grana's second penalty in as many games, plus goals from Edgar Bertoni and Saad Assis completed the rout.

Italy and USA meet Portugal and Thailand respectively in their penultimate Group B games on Sunday.

Adriano Foglia, Italy player
Today we showed our potential against a physically strong team. We played well and picked up another win, and that will do our morale a power of good following the criticism we got after the Thailand match.

Alexandre Feller, Italy goalkeeper
The team was more relaxed and we played better, but that doesn't mean to say it was an easy game. Now we've got to start thinking about our next games, which are the tough ones.

Pat Morris, USA player
The only thing we can do now is play the games we've got left and do our country proud.

Denison Cabral and Jamar Beasley are unavailable for the U.S. today, while Pat Morris is the only active player carrying a booking.

Six unanswered goals from Italy handed the U.S. National Futsal Team a tough defeat at the FIFA Futsal World Cup from the Maracanazinho in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Despite taking the lead in the first half, Keith Tozer's side was unable to hold on to the lead, and eventually the quality of the Italy side proved to be too much for the U.S. Mathematically there is still a chance of qualification for the next round, and the U.S. takes the court again on Saturday, Oct. 4 when they clash with Thailand. Kickoff from Rio de Janeiro is set for 9:30 a.m. ET, and the game can be seen live on ESPN360.com or followed via the MNT Blog.

“I can't fault the guys' effort; it was much better than we had in the first game,” said Tozer. “We played with passion, heart and did all the things we talked about. Credit goes to Italy though because they're a great team. We had the 1-0 lead but we gave up the ball in the middle for the goal and then they took advantage of a two-on-one. It set us back and gave them energy. That was a huge turning point and we just couldn't get back up the ladder."

After a performance on Tuesday where they were admittedly nervous and hesitant, the U.S. began the game against Italy confident and ready to play. The introduction of Andy Rosenband to the lineup, following his return from a holdover suspension he picked upduring qualifying, did much to inject energy into the U.S. side.

In the fifth minute, an outlet pass from goalkeeper Jeff Richey released midfielder Ptah Myers. Through on goal, Myers was brought down cynically by an Italian challenge, for which there was bizarrely no booking. Retribution would come from the restart though. Chile Farias took a shot that was deflected and Rosenband emerged at the far post to poke the ball past the wrong-footed Italian goalkeeper Alexandre Feller.

One goal was hardly going to decide the match, and going behind immediately ignited the Italians. Known for their tacit commitment to defense in the outdoor game, the Italian futsal team could not be more different. Their ball movement and fancy dribbling, particularly that of Adriano Foglia, excited the crowd and within minutes they were level.

In the eighth minute Saad Assis capitalized on an errant U.S. touch and played in Foglia who easily put the ball under the scrambling Richey to level the score.

Three minutes later, Italy took the lead, with the Azzurri again taking advantage of a U.S. giveaway. Assis was the architect once more, drawing the defense and playing Sandro Zanetti in the area for the easy finish.

The U.S. went into halftime knowing they would have to muster a team effort to overturn the scoreline, and early in the second half, they looked like they could have a chance. After some good buildup, midfielder Matthew Stewart found forward Brett Wiesner alone in the Italy penalty area, but his snap shot was turned away by the impressive Feller.

“In the second half we said 'we have to push guys forward,’” said Tozer. “We wanted to create more movement and we wanted to get guys down to the other end. I thought we played really well at times and we had some good opportunities.”

Defender Joe Hammes' shot was blocked well by a sliding Italian fullback and Feller was again at his best when he kept out U.S. captain, Pat Morris, in the 30th minute.

Minutes after, the U.S. were left to rue their missed chances as Patrick Nora extended Italy's lead. Grana played a short corner, catching the U.S. by surprise and Nora didn't think twice before hammering it at the U.S. goal. An unfortunate deflection off Wiesner wrongfooted Richey and the ball spun by the U.S. goalkeeper at the near post.

Foul trouble began to catch up with the U.S., though the Italians strangely remained out of the referees' notebooks. Six fouls sent Grana to the spot for a ten meter kick and he pounded it home in the 36th minute.

Just one minute later, Italy put the game out of reach, with Bertoni firing home at the near post to extend the lead to 5-1. There was still time in the end for Assis to add one more goal from the ten meter spot.

Despite the loss, there is still much to play for in Group B and the possibility of points in the next two games give the U.S. hope of qualifying for the next round.

"Anything can happen, and we're going to get ready for Thailand like we would any other team,” said Tozer. “We want to feel confident going into the game, and we'll prepare as hard as we can to be ready on Saturday."

Action photo fo the match between USA and Italy at the FIFA Futsal World Cup  in Río de Janeiro, October 2nd 2008.	Alexandre Feller, Italy goalkeeper	Italy's Patrick Nora passes the ball