Courtesy: The AFC.com


Chinese Taipei, Macau and Qatar post wins

Futsal Qualifying 2008

KUALA LUMPUR: The AFC Futsal Championship 2008 qualifying got underway yesterday here in the capital of Malaysia with four spots in the offing in the finals which will be held in Bangkok from May 11-18, 2008.

Among the winners on the opening day at the Matsushita Sports Complex were Chinese Taipei, Macau and Qatar.

In Group A, Malaysia were held by ASEAN rivals Vietnam 4-4 while Chinese Taipei defeated Maldives 4-2. The Malaysian scorers were Addie Zainal (35, 39) and Mohamed Karnim (8, 39). For Vietnam, Nguyen Quang Minh (4), Doan Dinh Hong (2), Ngo Anh Dung (28) and Huynh Dong Kha (40) were on the mark.

Chinese Taipei fell behind 0-2 to Maldives after Najeeb Haishan (11) and Mohamed Ismail (24) found the net but Fang Ching-jen hit a hat-trick (28, 34, 39) and Lin Po-Yuan added to it in the 31st minute for a deserving win.

In the Group B matches, Macau shocked Indonesia 4-2 with goals from De Sousa Cheung (12), Chong Kun Kan (21, 39) and Leong Chong In (36). Earlier, the Indonesians were fired into a good start by Deny Handoyo (6) before they were pegged back by the Macau fightback and Maulana Ihsan managed to another goal in the 34th minute.

Both of Qatar’s goals in the second Group B match against Brunei Darussalam were scored by Ahmed Al Baloshi.

In today’s matches, Vietnam take on Chinese Taipei and Maldives clash with Malaysia in Group A, while Brunei Darussalam lock horns with Kuwait and Qatar will be hoping to continue their winning start against Macau in the Group B.

The top-two teams from both groups will join the 12 teams who have already qualified for the finals.






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