Courtesy:
Gulf Daily NewsSunday, April 08, 2012BAHRAIN yesterday suffered a heavy 0-6 defeat at the hands of defending champions Iran in Group 'A' in the Second Women's West Asian Futsal Championship.
In the day's only game at the Khalifa Sports City's Stadium in Isa Town, the tournament's hosts were unable to build up on their impressive 8-2 win over Iraq in their opener and suffered their first defeat to settle for second place in this three-team group.
Despite the defeat, which saw Bahrain finish second with three points, they joined Iran in the semi-finals, to be played tomorrow.
Iran, who came to Bahrain looking to keep the title they won last year in Amman, lived up to expectations.
Iran, who finished on six points from two matches, were kept at bay by the brave Bahraini players until the closing stages of the first-half when Farishti Karimi finally broke the deadlock to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
The Bahrain defence lacked cohesion in the second-half as Iran dominated the game to add five more goals, including two apiece by Fatma Etedadi and Fahima Azari, and one from Layla Egbali who rounded off the scoring spree.
Speaking after the match, Iran's head coach Shahrzad Mozaffar said her team have come here fully prepared for the championship.
"We had two rounds of training camps as well as some international friendlies with Russia," said Mozaffar
TacticallyMozaffar added that her players both technically and tactically are in good shape, hoping that the team will keep the top form right through the tournament.
Meanwhile, the last round of matches in Group 'B' is scheduled for today, with two matches on the cards.
Jordan, with six points from their victories over Qatar (20-0) and Lebanon (5-2), take on Palestine at 4pm.
Palestine, who kick-started their campaign with a 2-5 defeat to Lebanon before thrashing Qatar 9-0, must win their match against Jordan and hope that Lebanon stumble against Qatar to qualify.
Posted by
Luca Ranocchiari -->
luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com
