RAMPANT AUSTRALIA BLAST SEVEN GOALS PAST HOSTS MALAYSIA

KUALA LUMPUR (31 Jan 2008) – A rampant Australian side blasted seven goals past a hapless Malaysia as they romped to a convincing 7-0 win in their second match in Group A of the KL World 5s here at the Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur.
The Aussies, who had made short work of Indonesia in their first game on Monday, had the day off yesterday, which seemed to work to give them an advantage as they raced to a 4-0 lead by the break – giving impetus for coach Scott Sullivan to call his side the best yet.
"It had always been hard to get all the players that I want but this time when I called 12 players to play in this tournament, they all wanted to come and the result is that we have probably the best Australian side since I took over the national team seven years ago," said Sullivan. "We had two training sessions before coming to Kuala Lumpur and the players have all been fantastic as they kept to the gameplan to win our second game in as many matches."
Malaysia got off to a poor start when they conceded two goals in the first minute of play – the first off a penalty which was converted by Adrian Vizzari and then the second from Fernando de Moraes.
With Italy-based Greg Giovenali provided good defensive cover for his goalkeeper, the Australians foraged freely up front and scored two more goals off Moraes in the 12th minute and then Keith Simon three minutes later for a comfortable lead.
The second half was all Australia as they added goals from Giovenali (22nd minute), Simon (24th) and Vizzari (25th).
"It is a disappointing result and I don't want to make excuses but I think that we seriously need the league to be better," added P. Balakrishnan.
"If we have a progressive league we will have better players able to settle down early in the game as you ca see, we could not recover from being two goals down."
Australia plays Argentina tomorrow at 5pm, in a match between the two unbeaten teams in Group A.



IRAN BOUNCE BACK TO BEAT HOLLAND IN SECOND GROUP GAME

KUALA LUMPUR (31 Jan 2008) – Iran bounced back from their opening defeat in the KL World 5s yesterday to beat Holland 3-1 in their second match of Group B this afternoon at the Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur.
The Iranians, who were beaten 4-0 by former world champions Brazil yesterday, put up a convincing show in front of more than 200 hundred of their loyal supporters, to overcome a resilient Dutch squad.
"When we play in any tournament, we always look to be in the final – not only at the semis. We are as good as any of the big teams," said Hossein Shams, the head coach for Iran. “We played really well in the first half and it was a lot better than yesterday. But today was about the three points, and really we have to conserve our energy for tomorrow since we will have to play two matches."
If spectators were wondering why both teams appeared to have similar playing styles despite coming from different parts of the world, it could be because Iran were once under the tutelage of Vic Hermans, the current head coach of Holland.
But while Holland relied mostly on young players, Iran is a team full of experience - which made all the difference in a game like futsal where patience and the ability to take advantage of small spaces are desirable qualities in a player.
This was best exemplified by the prolific Vahid Shamsaee, who stroked the ball past Dutch keeper Peter Rozenbeek in the tenth minute for the lead. The game came alive again in the 28th minute when Mohammad Taheri grabbed Iran’s second goal.
Holland responded immediately a minute later when Omar Neijari took advantage of a defensive slip-up to score.
However, Shamsaee scored the third goal five minutes before the end to give their fans a reason to celebrate, clinching three valuable points for Iran.
"We were up against a very strong Iran team and they deserved to win," said Hermans, who was the head coach for Iran in 2001.
"The problem for us is that we will have to play our next match against Brazil with just ten players following the red card on Rozenbeek and the injury on Antoine (Merlino)."




ARGENTINA THROUGH TO SEMI-FINALS OF KL WORLD 5s

KUALA LUMPUR (31 Jan 2008) – Argentina are through to the last four of the KL World 5’s without having to raise a sweat.
Another convincing victory today, this time over Indonesia in their third Group A match at the Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur, has assured them of a spot in the top two of the group standing and a place in the semi-finals.
They play Australia tomorrow, Friday, 1 February, in their final preliminary round match to decide the group champion, but coach Jose Fernando has decided what he needs to do next.
“We want to avoid Brazil in the crossover semi-finals and knowing that they (Brazil) would finish as group champion, we want to finish champion in our group too and so that we not have to play them in the semi-finals,” said Fernando.
That means Argentina, the defending champion when the tournament was last held in 2003, are bent on beating Australia to finish their group matches without a loss.
And just like England and Malaysia before them, Indonesia found the South Americans a tough nut to crack.
The sharpness of Christian Borutto, Argentina’s top hit-man, was all too evident as he hit two early goals in the 2nd and 3rd minute to give the champion a 2-0 lead. His next goal in the 7th min put Indonesia in sixes and sevens.
Another three more goals before the half was over with a hat-trick from Alamiro Vaporaki in the 11th,17th and 18th, made it even harder for the Indonesians.
Said Indonesia head coach Justinus Lhaksana: “We were completely outplayed and outfought in the first period. It was only after we changed our strategy in the second period did we managed to contain the Argentineans. But it’s always difficult to play against such a strong side.
“Of course we fought hard, especially in the second half and I am proud of my team’s performance. If we can improve on what we had just did maybe we will even be a better team in the making.”




PERFECT RECORD FOR FUTSAL WIZARDS BRAZIL
KUALA LUMPUR (31 Jan 2008) – Brazil's mastery in the KL World 5's continues with Thailand their latest victim at the Stadium Negara yesterday.
It was billed as the clash of the Asean champion against the World's No 1, but in the end the result was a foregone conclusion with the Brazilians chalking up their third win in the tournament.

Thailand, the reigning SEA Games champion are kingpins in the region, but Brazil, the three-time world champion was a different proposition altogether.

To the Thai's credit they did hold the Brazilians for long periods of time, and even threathened to score an early goal. But once the opportunity passed , it was the Brazilians's turn to turn on the pressure.

Finally in the 7th min the Brazilians struck. The man with the lethal left foot, Lenision Junior assisted by Paulo Santos, cracked open the Thai defence to put Brazil one up.

And the Brazilians had to wait for another seven minutes before Junior made it 2-0 with another left-footed shot, which swerved beyond the reach of their goalkeeper Surapong Tompa.

It was 3-0 by the 35th min with Junior on the scoresheet again for his hat-trick before William Morais wrapped up the scoreline with a 37th min effort and Brazil are safely through to the last four from Group B irrespective of the result in their final group match against Holland tomorrow(Friday, 1 February).

Brazil's coach, Paulo De Oliveira, said: "We had a tough match against Iran on Wednesday and it affected us today. But in any case, Thailand are a good side and have improved tremendously over the years. We use to beat them by double digit scoreline but not anymore.

"We also made the mistake of being over-confident, especially in the opening half - something which we should not be doing.

"But we are in the semis now and the only worry now is how to step up our level of performance. To tell the truth we are only playing at 60 per cent. No thanks to injuries to players like Alessandro Viera(Falcao) and Ari Santos."

Said his Thai counterpart, coach Piemkum Pattaya: " I am not happy with the scoreline. We should have scored at least one goal. But I am pleased with the overall performance considering the strength and the experience of the Brazilians.

"In fact, this is not the best result we had against them. We played them in 2003 and we lost 1-4."




AUSTRALIA JOIN ARGENTINA IN LAST FOUR OF KL WORLD 5s

KUALA LUMPUR (31 Jan 2008) – With Australia thumping England 6-1 in the final match of the evening at the Stadium Negara, it has set up a mouth-watering encounter against current Group A leaders Argentina tomorrow afternoon to decide who will finish at the top.
The Argentines had already stated in no uncertain terms that they will be out to win the full points against a much-improved Australian side where a win would ensure that they avoid powerhouse Brazil in the crossover semi-finals.
But today, it was all about Australia as after rubbing off the challenge of hosts Malaysia first thing in the morning, the Aussies seem to be still fired up when they scored all their goals against England in the first half of the game tonight.
The scorers for Australia were Greg Giovenali (1st and 10th); Fernando Moraes (4th min); Flaningan Trent (6th); Haydon Luke(6th) and Macor Daniel(17th).
England’s lone goal in the game came off Alex Skyes in the eleventh minute as Australia romped to a perfect three out of three record and a place in the last four.
With Brazil already confirming their place in the semi-finals of the KL World 5s from Group B following today’s methodological 4-0 win over Thailand, the fight to decide as to which team will join them in the next round will be decided tomorrow.
All three teams – Holland, Thailand and Iran – have a mathematical chance of making it although at this point in time, the question is how well Iran can cope in playing against China in the morning and then the decisive tie against Thailand later at night.
The Iranians have shown that they have certainly adjusted to the prevailing conditions in Kuala Lumpur following their late arrival and this was evident following their ability to overcome Holland 3-1 in what was a pivotal match in Group B this afternoon.
But as Iran head coach Hossein Shams said afterwards, the game against Holland was all about winning the three points – while at the same time maintaining a steady focus for the two matches tomorrow.
“We have to conserve our energy for tomorrow where we will have to play two matches. There’s no point in being ambitious today and getting into trouble tomorrow.”

RESULTS (31 Jan, 2008)
10am: Australia vs Malaysia (7-0)
1pm: Holland vs Iran (1-3)
3pm: Indonesia vs Argentina (0-6)
6pm: Brazil vs Thailand (4-0)
9pm: England vs Australia (1-6)


FIXTURES (1 Feb, 2008)
10am: Iran vs China
3pm: Malaysia vs England
5pm: Australia vs Argentina
7pm: Brazil vs Holland
9pm: Thailand vs Iran






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