Courtesy: The AFC.com


Al Sadd (QAT) 8-6 Pro's Cafe (LIB)

Thursday, 04 March 2010

ESFAHAN - Al Sadd claimed the honour of becoming the winner of the first match at the inaugural AFC Futsal Club Championship as the Qataris beat Pro's Cafe of Lebanon 8-6 at Pirouzi Stadium on Thursday.

In a see-saw encounter Al Sadd twice surrendered the lead before a flurry of second-half goals secured the three points in the opening Group B encounter in Esfahan.

Al Sadd dominated possession during the early exchanges and deservedly took the lead after five minutes when Amro Mohssein dribbled towards goal with the Pro's Cafe players backing off before laying the ball off for Kamyab Zahir, who drove the ball into the back of the net.

But Pro's Cafe hit back with a quick fire double two minutes later as first Khaled Takaji equalised before Kassem Kawsan's angled shot put the Lebanese side ahead seconds later. They then made it 3-1 a minute before the break when Takaji rifled an unstoppable effort into the back of the net.

Al Sadd came out guns blazing at the start of the second half and pulled a goal back four minutes after the restart through Zahir before Xavier Rodrigo put them ahead when his low effort hit the bottom of the right upright before nestling in the back of the net.

The tempo of the game went up a notch and Pro's Cafe restored their lead two minutes later when Takaji was one-on-one with the goalkeeper and lifted his shot into the net only for Al Sadd to hit back a minute later through skipper Mohammed Al Kubaisi.

Goals in quick succession from Amro and then substitute Errahmouni Bilal made it 6-4 for Al Sadd before Amro's shot hit Rodrigo and the forward reacted quickly to flick the ball into the net.

Ali Homsi's backheel enabled substitute Mahmoud Itani to reduce the deficit with five minutes remaining but Al Sadd responded swiftly as Rodrigo side-footed home a minute later before Pro's Cafe snatched a consolation at the death.




Courtesy: The AFC.com


Ribeiro revels in Sadd’s second-half show

Thursday, 04 March 2010

ESFAHAN – Al Sadd coach Fabiano Ribeiro was delighted with the way the Qataris overturn a two-goal deficit at half-time to defeat Pro's Cafe of Lebanon 8-6 in the opening match of the inaugural AFC Futsal Club Championship at Pirouzi Stadium on Thursday.

After taking the lead Al Sadd were 3-1 down at the break but gradually became more dominant as the game wore on and in the end were worthy winners.

“I am very happy with the result of this match,” said Ribeiro.

“It was very hard. I believe Pro's Cafe are one of the strongest in our group and have a lot of very good players.

“Most of my team have never played international games and started off playing very individually so we were not at our best in the first half.

“Futsal is a team game and we needed to take advantage of open spaces but, after we got ahead it brought confidence to the players and they started to play well.”

Despite the result, Ribeiro believes there is still room for improvement in their coming games.

“Every time we win I am satisfied, however every game has some good and bad points and I will talk about the bad points with the players,” added the Brazilian.

“We can certainly play better that today.”

Pro's Cafe coach Rabih Abou Chaaya admitted his players struggled initially with the tempo of the game having arrived in Esfahan straight on the back of completing their domestic duties.

“We came directly from our football league back home so were not at our best,” he said.

“The rhythm of the game was very fast and Al Sadd have some very influential players. But it was very close and we perhaps could have won it if we had taken some of our chances.”

The Lebanese side were particularly effective on the counter attack with three of their six goals coming from such breaks, but Chaaya stressed that is not necessarily the style his side will always play.

“We gained confidence and did well on the counter attack,” he added.

“This is not our only strategy and if we press the other team we can control the game.”


Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com