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The AFC.comUzbekistan 1-1 KuwaitFriday, 25 May 2012Dubai: Kuwait reaffirmed the closing gap amongst Asian nations’ futsal after heroically holding 2010 finalists Uzbekistan 1-1 in the opening match of Group D of the AFC Futsal Championship 2012 on Friday.
Kuwait took the lead in the 6th minute through an own goal from Konstantin Sviridov after a corner from Abdulrahman Almosabehi deflected inside his own net. Three minutes later, the Uzbeks brought the match back at level through Dilshod Irsaliev.
In the match played at Al Shabab Stadium, Kuwait enjoyed lion’s share of possessions and were a threat for Uzbek goalie Rustam Umarov throughout the first half.
The early parts were totally dominated by the Kuwaitis and were duly rewarded for their persistent pressing in Uzbek half. While attempting to clear a powerful corner from Almosabehi, unlucky Sviridov ended up directing the ball inside his own net.
The own goal worked like a wake-up call for the three-time Asian Futsal Championship finalists as they started to find rhythm and became more adventurous with their effort reaping fruit in the 9th minute. Ardus star Dilshod, who had scored a goal in Uzekistan’s 8-3 loss against Japan in the final two years ago, continued his fine goalscoring touch in the continental stage by volleying a deflection off Talal Fahad.
“We were not in our best in first 30 minutes,” said Uzbekistan’s Spanish tactician Pazos Mandez Jose Maria.
“Nothing to take away the brilliant match Kuwait played, we could have won the match later in the second half,” Pazos was referring two Uzbek shots deep into the second half which kissed the bar and deflected back in playing area.
Pazos’ Spanish counterpart Fonseca Cilleros was all praise for the valiant effort his players made to offer Uzbekistan a real fight.
“It’s a brilliant first day result and the players must be congratulated for the ways they played as we had our chances as well,” said the Spaniard.
“But we have to be on our guard and keep our head cool as if something goes wrong against Indonesia tomorrow, today’s good work will no more count.”
Kuwait play Indonesia and Uzbekistan take on China on Saturday.
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The AFC.comJapan 3-2 LebanonFriday, 25 May 2012Dubai: A Rafael Henmi penalty with 8 seconds left to play gave Japan a dramatic 3-2 victory over Lebanon as Group B of the AFC Futsal Championship UAE 2012 got underway on Friday.
Kassem Kawsan looked to have capped an impressive fightback as Lebanon came from two goals down before a sixth foul from Mohammad Iskandarani gave Henmi the chance to seal the win for Japan, which he did with aplomb.
"It was a good match against championship contenders," said Lebanon coach Francisco Araujo.
"I didn't think Japan were any better than us and a bad mistake at the end of the match cost us and we must look at how to avoid these in the future.
"We conceded two early goals because the players were a little bit nervous playing against Japan but we improved our attitude and showed our potential."
Japan went into the interval with a 2-1 lead with Watura Kitiharu and Shota Hoshi scoring for the 2006 AFC Futsal Championship winners before Karim Abou Zeid pulled one back for Lebanon.
Japan had the upper-hand for the majority of the second period but it was Lebanon looked to have earned a share of the spoils when Kawsan scored the equaliser.
The opening goal came three minutes after Japan skipper Kenchiro Kogure and Henmi had kicked-off the first Group B match at Al Wasl Indoor Stadium when the ball came in from the right side and Kogure's pass was skilfully flicked in at the right hand post by Watura Kitiharu.
Less than a minute later Japan doubled their lead when Shota Hoshi fired the ball low past Lebanon keeper Rabie El Kakhi after being sent clear by Henmi before Karim Abou Zeid reduced the deficit with five minutes played.
Lebanon's El Kakhi, who received a yellow card for a foul on Kazuhiro Nibuya in the 13th minute, was the busier of the two keepers in the second-half but it was the men from the Middle East that got the game's next goal with six minutes left to play.
Hayssam Atwi picked out Mahmoud Itani and his pass across the area eluded Hisamatsu Kawahara but not Kawsan who rolled the ball into the empty net for a goal that looked to have earned Lebanon a well-deserved point.
However, Japan never gave up and after a late foul Henmi drilled the direct kick hard past El Kakhi for the dramatic last gasp winner.
While please with the winning start, Japan coach Miguel Rodrigo felt his side was affected by opening night nerves saying:
"Statistically speaking this 3-2 result was just for us because we had the most scoring chances.
"We didn't do as well as we expected and I have told the players that to be champions you have to win even when you play badly.
"But in the first game the players are often nervous, they have stiff muscles and there is a lot of stress. This is because of the responsibility of being one of the favourites. But this should never be used as an excuse and they must play the best they can from the first game to the final."
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The AFC.comIndonesia 2-5 China PRFriday, 25 May 2012Dubai: China went top of Group D of the AFC Futsal Championship 2012 finals after beating Indonesia 5-2 in a keenly contested match at the Al Shabab Stadium on Friday.
China, who started the match poorly, got a strong hold in the second half as the match was a total contrast of what the scoreline suggests. Hu Jie scored a brace while Cong Lin, Deng Tao and Zhao Liang scored one apiece for the Chinese who will take on Uzbekistan on Saturday with the Uzbeks only managing 1-1 draw against Kuwait earlier.
Indonesia were sharp and fluent earlier but goalkeeper Ade Lesmana’s blunder offered China a 1-0 lead two minutes from the halftime. Captain Jie guided the ball through the legs of Lesmana to break the ice.
“We knew the Indonesia goalkeeper is good in air so the possible way to beat him was to rely on the ground shots,” Chinese Brazilian coach Guilherme Carvalho Franco Da Silveira told after the match.
“The first half we were clumsy and all over the place but that is natural as we only had some video analysis of Indonesia before the match but after playing 20 minutes, we got a good account of themselves and bossed the second half.”
Indonesia did hit back deep into the first half as Afif Tamimy, who had scored four goals in the Asean qualifiers, headed one back to go into the break with both the sides locked in 1-1.
Indonesia lost the plot in the second half which was totally dominated the by the Chinese. Zhao Liang tapped in Huang He’s cross in the 26th minute to put China 2-1 ahead.
“That China’s second goal was curial for our downfall, we left the holes and they made must out of it,” Indonesia’s coach Andri Irawan told www.the-afc.com.
“We had a solid start but failed to match it with the progression of the game, I hope if we play like how we did here today in first 15 minutes, we can go all the way into the knockout stages.”
Zhejiang Dragon FC star Deng Tao scored a goal in the 29th minute and created one for his club mate Cong Lin to further harass Indonesia. Captain Hu Jie scored the fifth Chinese goal right at the death after Denny Handoyo gave a ray of hope for the Indonesian in the 35th minute with a sublime goal.
Indonesia take on Kuwait while China will have a tough tie against Uzbekistan on Saturday.
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The AFC.comChinese Taipei 4-6 TajikistanFriday, 25 May 2012Dubai: Alisher Ulmasov scored twice in the final 30 seconds as Tajikistan overturned a three-goal deficit to defeat Chinese Taipei 6-4 as the two Group B outsiders opened their AFC Futsal Championship UAE 2012 campaigns with an entertaining encounter at the Al Wasl Indoor Stadium on Friday.
Chinese Taipei took a third minute lead when Lo Chih-an threaded a pass between two Tajik defenders allowing skipper Liu Chi-chao to dispatch the ball past Miali Sharipov with authority.
Shih Shin-an did well to preserve his side's lead with the Chinese Taipei keeper saving well from Tajik skipper Sherzod Jumaev on more than one occasions and the Central Asians were made to pay from the profligacy six minutes later when a quick ball from inside the Chinese Taipei half released Chen Po-hao, who easily rounded the advancing Sharipov to double the East Asians' lead.
Chinese Taipei were in complete control of their opening Group B fixture as Han Chang made it 3-0 with three minutes of the first period remaining with a well-taken angled drive.
Tajikistan reduced the deficit just a minute into the second period when Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev's intelligent cutback allowed Akhtam Nazarov to get the Tajiks on the scoreboard but Chinese Taipei restored their three-goal cushion just seconds later when keeper Shih launched the ball the entire length of the court for Han to volley through the legs of Sharipov for his second and Chinese Taipei's fourth.
Tajikistan pulled one back in the 25th minute when Jumaev skilfully curled the ball past Shih, who was beaten again seven minutes later following a powerful drive from Orzu Dodkhudoev.
And Shih would be picking the ball out of the net for fourth time in the match when Nazarov's shot was deflected past the helpless keeper by Yang Chao-hsun as the Tajiks levelled the match at 4-4.
And with just 30 seconds remaining Chinese Taipei were caught by a quick counter-attack allowing Alisher Ulmasov to turn the tide of the match in Tajikistan's favour.
But Ulmasov hadn't finished there and with Shih joining the attack as the East Asians chased the equaliser he break clear of the pack and swept the ball into an unguarded net from just inside the Chinese Taipei half.
When asked if Tajikistan's remarkable come-from-behind victory was lucky head coach Damir Kamaletdinov responded with an emphatic niet saying that a change in strategy for the second period brought about the change in his side's fortunes.
"No I don't think we were lucky as we fought hard and deserved this win," he said.
"It's the team that scores that wins not the team that controls the ball and in the first period we controlled the ball but Chinese Taipei took their chances.
"In the second period we changed our tactics and I told the players don't panic, there is still time. We have experience in being three or four goals down before and have fought back for a positive result."
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The AFC.comAustralia 3-1 QatarFriday, 25 May 2012Dubai: Christopher Anthony Zeballos scored a brace as Australia emerged a 2-0 winner over Qatar in AFC Futsal Championship’s Group C action on Saturday at the Al Shabab Club Stadium.
Zeballos’ acute goal-bound cross was helped out by Qatar’s Rashid Yousuf towards his own goal but the credit was given to the New South Wales Thunder star Zeballos who later blocked the vision of Qatari goalie Hamad Muftah and connected a slight touch to score his second in the 29th minute.
A thunderstorm from Yousuf reduced the deficit for Qatar with only two minutes remaining but Andres Gomez put the match in bed in the 39th minute.
Australia, who had lost both of their international friendlies in the tune-up for the AFC Futsal Championship final against Thailand a week before, were more relied on the individual brilliance of Zeballos while Qatar seemed missing star striker Rodrigo Xavier De Roccha who had scored massive 16 goals in the qualifier before missing out from the final due to nationality issues.
“There were flashes of individual brilliance in the first half but we played as a team in the second half and controlled much of the second period,” Australian coach Steven Knight said.
“It was a tough match but we tried to rob off Qatar on their possessions and even managed to do it,” he added.
Zeballos first goal in the 4th minute was a freak as the Qatari goalie Muftah was undecided whether to collect it or wait for it before Rashid further guided the ball towards its destination.
Qatar goalie Muftah did not have any clue for Australia’s second goal scored in the 29th minute as Zeballos wrong footed the 33-year old veteran. The match turned a nightmare for Muftah as his mistake in the last minute of the match gave Australia a deserved three points as Gomez pounced on the ball into the open net.
“We made three mistakes and paid for those, at this level of competition, your mistake will count,” Qatar’s Spanish coach Abdel Ilah Benaim said.
“Now it’s going to be very tough especially after losing the opening match but we will fight,” he added. The Spaniard also rued missing duo of De Roccha and Amro Mohssein Abdelaal as the later will be eligible to play only against Korea Republic on Sunday after serving two matches ban.
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The AFC.comUAE 3-1 TurkmenistanFriday, 25 May 2012Dubai: The UAE's debut in the finals of the AFC Futsal Championship ended with a historic victory as the 2012 tournament hosts defeated Turkmenistan 3-1 in their Group A opener at the Al Wasl Indoor Stadium on Friday.
Yousif Mohamed scored the UAE's first-ever goal in the finals with just five minutes played and after missing a raft of chances in the first-period Mergen Atayev struck the equaliser 30 seconds before the half-time buzzer.
The game remained locked at 1-1 until the 35th minute when Bader Ibrahim's angled drive giving the UAE a 2-1 lead which they extended in the final seconds through Abdulkarim Jamil after Turkmenistan's power play failed to find the equaliser.
"Today all the players showed how important it is for them to represent the UAE and how important it was for them to achieve such a big win," head coach Padu (Paulo Eduardo De Jesus Pinho) told reporters after the match.
Despite his elation at the historic victory, the Brazilian cautioned UAE fans not to get too carried away with the result.
"We played some very good futsal today but what people must understand is that it is very difficult to win matches in the Asian finals.
"We have just 11 players and three goalkeepers and of those players five have never played in an international competition before. We are very happy to start with a win and know we must see how the players recover."
Keen to make an impression in their first appearance the UAE dominated their opening exchanges and were rewarded with the opening goal in the fifth minute when Yousif Mohamed squeezed the ball past Chariyar Meredov at the second time of asking after the Turkmenistan keeper had saved his first attempt.
The hosts dominated the first-half of the opening period but a combination of wasteful finishing and good keeping from Meredov conspired to keep the lead at just one goal.
And the UAE were made to pay for their profligacy with less than a minute of the first period remaining when a deflection saw the ball spin fortuitously into the path of Mergen Atayev on the right side of the area and the Turkmen skipper made no mistake in firing it powerfully past Jabir Mohamed in the UAE goal.
An action-packed second period saw plenty of activity in all areas except the scoreboard which remained at 1-1 until five minutes from time when a superb strike from skipper Bader Ibrahim gave the UAE a 2-1 lead with five minutes left to play.
Turkmenistan tried the power play and set up a thrilling finish but the attacking ploy backfired as Abdulkarim Jamil stroked the ball into an unguarded net with seconds left to play to seal the UAE's historic victory.
"First I must say congratulations to the UAE but we didn't take our chances and that was the main reason that we lost today," said Turkmenistan coach Guvanch Kanayev, who stressed that Ibrahim's goal left the Turkmen no option but to try the power play.
"Before the match our target was a victory so we had to try everything that we could to get the equaliser. We will press hard in the next game and do everything we can to win."
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The AFC.comIran 14-1 Korea RepFriday, 25 May 2012Dubai: Iran announced that they are still a team to beat as the continental giants thrashed Korea Republic with an emphatic 14-1 victory in their first outing of the 2012 AFC Futsal Championship on Friday.
In one of the mesmerizing displays of the 10-time continental champions, two hattircks were scored in the match with other two players getting a brace each. Ali Asghar Hassan Zadeh and Javid Mahdi were the ones scoring hattricks.
Debutant Seo Daeyun scored a consolation goal for Korea Republic who have mountain to climb after a discouraging first match defeat to book a place to the quarterfinal and keep alive the dream of playing in the FIFA Futal World Cup later this year in Thailand.
Mahdi, playing his maiden AFC Futsal Championship, scored his first in 15th minute before adding two more goals in the 17th and 27th minute. Ali Asghar, who plays his club football for Qatar’s Al Rayyan, scored his goals in the 12th, 13th, and 27th minute.
Shahid Mansouri duo of Mohammed Keshavarz and Javad Asgharimoghaddam recorded brace and there were goal each for Mohammed Taheri, Esmailpour Ahmed and Hossein Tayebi.
The only black spot on Iran’s win was star player Vahid Shamsaee’s failure to score a goal despite being given reasonable amount of time by the coach Sanei Arani Ali.
“Vahid is so popular in futsal world that he is always marked tightly but we used this as our strategy as other three players get space enough to run and score,” Ali said.
“We started the tournament with a bang but we keep on improving and respecting our opponents to achieve our goal,” he added.
Ali’s Korean counterpart was devastated by the way his team played.
“Our players were all over the place today, before the match I have not thought about this margin loss. But what’s gone is gone and tomorrow, we need to be prepared mentally and physically well to take on Australia,” Korea coach Lee Chang-hwan said.
“It is very difficult to overpower from this disastrous loss by we don’t have any option than to be optimistic and hope that we fix it out from tomorrow,” the visibly dejected coach said.
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The AFC.comThailand 2-0 KyrgyzstanFriday, 25 May 2012Dubai: Two second-period goals saw Thailand make a winning start to their 2012 AFC Futsal Championship campaign, with the 2008 runners-up seeing-off the stern challenge of Kyrgyzstan on Friday.
Thailand dominated the first period but squandered a number of chances, with the usually dependable Kritsada Wongkaeo failing to make the most of the chances that came his way although in fairness to Kritsada – top scorer with 16 goals as the Thais won the 2012 AFF Futsal Champions last April – he did also draw a couple of fine saves from Kyrgyz keeper Kiril Ermolov.
Kyrgyzstan started the brighter of the two in the second period and after showing some nimble footwork to create an opportunity Rustam Ermekov slotted the ball past Surapong Tompa only to see his shot go the wrong side of the Thai keeper and captain's right-hand post.
The Thais upped a gear soon after and despite skilfully crafting a number of opportunities they were to be continuously frustrated by the heroic keeping of Ermolov.
Ermolov was finally beaten with seven minutes left on the clock when Apiwat Chaemcharoen got on the end of a Suphawut Thueanklang cross before Sarawut Jaipech's powerful angled drive following a slick counterattack sealed the win with a minute-and-a-half left to play.
"This was a very exciting game and we have a very talented young squad that has just won our 17th game on the road," said Thailand coach Victor Hermans, who admitted that the enthusiasm of his young charges almost got the better of them.
"The problem is they always like to play attack and I thought maybe this would cause us a problem at the end but thankfully we kept the score to zero and we scored twice so I am happy."
Kyrgyzstan coach Amirzhan Mukanov conceded that the better side on the day had won and said that it was the Thais' pace that the Central Asians found difficult to deal with.
"This was a very hard game and I think our opponent was stronger than us and certainly much faster.
"We had a great chance to get back into the game when we were 1-0 did but luck was not with us in this situation.
"We had our chances and Thailand had their and they took them so I must congratulate the Thais on their victory."
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