Courtesy: The AFC.com


All Sports 3-3 GH Bank

Sunday, 01 July 2012

Kuwait City: The AFC Club Futsal Championship started on the right note with the promise of exciting matches with Thai champions GH Bank playing an entertaining 3-3 draw against Lebanon’s All Sports FC in the curtainraiser on Sunday.

In the match played at the Yarmouk Indoor Stadium, both sides saw a player each getting a red card.

In the see-saw battle, All Sports came twice from behind while GH Bank also managed to bounce back in the match after going down 2-1 just after half-time.

Panomkorn Saisorn, Kristada Wongkaeo and Panuwat Janta scored for GH Bank while Weillian Neris Dos Santos, Kaseem Kawsan and Ali El Homsi were on the scoresheet for the Lebanese champions.

“We conceded silly goals and ended up sharing points,” GH Bank coach Rakphol Sainetngam lamented. “But by saying so I am not taking away from the performance our players put on against a very strong and well-organized professional club,” he added.

“These kinds of rollercoaster matches are good for the audience but not for coaches but I am happy with the spirit shown by my boys,” he quipped.

All Sports started the match positively but they miscued some close early chances and had to pay for that as GH Bank opened the account against the run of play in the 7th minute. Saisorn connected a brilliant right-footer volley off the free-kick of Janta to put GH Bank ahead.

“Had we converted our clean chances, we would have won the match” said All Sports coach Dory Zakhour. “It was a very difficult game and we were playing against a good side and coming back twice in the match to walk away with at least a point is not bad at all,” he added.

“We are still there and running, there are two matches left ahead and we have the chance to do well in those matches,” Zakhour said.

Brazilian Do Santos, who had an eventful match, brought All Sports level at 1-1 when he connected a powerful pile driver which GH Bank goalie Sukrit Rojjanametheesap did manage to block but the ball crossed the line.

Do Santos, who was later dismissed for his second bookable offence, created the second goal for Kawsan by brilliantly releasing the ball at the centre for the forward to direct the ball inside GH Bank net as All Sports went 2-1 in the 24th minute.

GH Bank, who also saw Brazilian Carlos Silva getting his marching orders just before half-time, equalised again in the 27th minute through Thai international Wongkaeo’s penalty after Karim Abou Zeid brought down Keattiyot Chalaemkhet inside the penalty area.

The Thai champions made full use of Do Santos’ 37th minute red card after putting them 3-2 up with just a minute left on the clock through Janta. And just when it looked like the Thais were going to walk away with all three points, goalkeeper Rojjanametheesap made his second mistake of the match and El Homsi pounced on the rebound to make it an entertaining 3-3.

Monday’s Matches
Ardus vs All Sports
GH Bank vs Nagoya Oceans
Al Rayyan vs Sanaye Giti Pasand
Thai Son Nam vs Yarmouk




Courtesy: The AFC.com


Nagoya Oceans 3-4 Ardus

Sunday, 01 July 2012 14:34

Kuwait City: Uzbekistan international Irsaliev Dilshod struck a brace as Uzbek giants Ardus stunning defending champions Nagoya Oceans 4-3 in the second match of the AFC Futsal Club Championship.

Falling behind a goal in just 13 seconds, the Uzbeks hit back with Dilshod’s brace and a goal each from captain Andrey Shlema and Carmelo Hernandez.

Oceans’ Morioka Kaoru, Tomoki Yoshikawa and Rafael Henmi found the net for the champions but it was not enough.

Peruvian forward Kaoru, who has featured in all the AFC Club Futsal Championships so far, started from where he left off in last year’s final against Shahid Mansouri by finding the net in the 13th second of the match after good work down to the right by Katsuthoshi.

“It’s amazing, playing your first match and going down with the referee’s starting whistle against the defending champions and hitting back to win the match is something like a fairytale,” Ardus coach Alexander Petrov said after the match.

“After trailing early, we regrouped and produced one of the finest performances to get this result,” he said adding that this win would boost the confidence of the side which recorded its first win in the championship’s history.

After an early onslaught from the Japanese, Ardus came back in the match in the 16th minute when captain Shlema gathered a throughball from Dilshod and put it past Oceans’ goalie Hisamitsu Kawahara.

Oceans became adventurous in the second half which saw the Uzbeks missing out on chances to take the lead in the counter-attack before Yoshikawa put the Japanese ahead in the 29th minute.

The Uzbeks made full use of Oceans’ adventure by firing two goals in quick succession. It was the match’s hero Dilshod who scored his first goal following a nice one-two with Rakhmatov Dilshod to make it level at 2-2.

The turning point of the match came just a minute after Dilshod goal when Ardus’ Brazilian export Hernandez dazzled Japanese goalie Kawahara to make it 3-2.

“We had a bad second half against a physically stronger Uzbek side,” the reigning champions’ Portuguese coach Jose Amarante said.

“We started brilliantly but failed to keep the early promises on but I have no doubt on this team, we will come back strong,” he added.

Ardus virtually sealed the win when Dilshod scored a lucky header in the 36th minute as the deflected ball off goalie Hisamitsu landed ideally in front of him and the Uzbek international did not miss the chance to head the ball inside an empty net from close range.

Oceans pegged one back immediately after Dilshod’s goal but brilliant goalkeeping by Uzbekistan number one goalie Rustam Umarov kept them at bay.

“I must appreciate the effort of Umarov, he was fantastic throughout the match,” coach Petrov summed up the performance of the Ardus goalie.

Monday’s Matches
Ardus vs All Sports
GH Bank vs Nagoya Oceans
Al Rayyan vs Sanaye Giti Pasand
Thai Son Nam vs Yarmouk




Courtesy: The AFC.com


Sanaye Giti Pasand 8-0 Thai Son Nam

Sunday, 01 July 2012

Kuwait City: Iranian champions Sanaye Giti Pasand showed their intent in the tournament after demolishing Vietnamese debutant Thai Son Nam 8-0 in their first match of the AFC Club Futsal Championship on Sunday.

The Vietnamese had some early chances of their own but they could not hold on under the persistent pressure of the Iranian side and tamely caved in in the second half.

Spanish import Rudimar Venancio, Afshin Kazemi and Iranian international Ahmad Esmaeilpour (pic) scored a brace apiece while Shahram Sharifzadeh and Yousefi Hamidreza grabbed a goal each for the Iranians who will take on Qatar’s Al Rayyan on Monday.

Thai Son Nam had their moments in the first half and early second half but the finishing in the final third let them down.

“I was working on the potential chances the teams had during the match and I can confirm that before going down 4-0, we had our moments in the match. The only difference was their cutting edge in front of goal,” Thai Son Nam's Florence-born Italian coach Sergio Gargelli told reporters.

Giti Pasand were 2-0 up in the first half thanks to brilliant finishes from Kazemi and Venancio. Thai Son Nam were fighting valiantly till the 29th minute but Esmaeilpour’s strike open the floodgates for the Iranians as they racked up five goals in the last six minutes.

“After going down 4-0 in the 34th minute, we were already thinking about Monday’s match against hosts Yarmouk SC,” Sergio said. “But we will bounce back. The Vietnamese are famous for their fighting spirit worldwide and I am sure they will show it tomorrow against Yarmouk,” he added.

“It’s not that the opponents were bad, they were fast and technically sound, but my boys were in exceptional form,” said Giti Pasand coach Alireza Afzal.

“We need to keep this momentum on as we know Nagoya Oceans failed today but they will definitely come back strong and we have other good teams waiting for their chances as well,” he added.

Monday’s Matches
Ardus vs All Sports
GH Bank vs Nagoya Oceans
Al Rayyan vs Sanaye Giti Pasand
Thai Son Nam vs Yarmouk


Courtesy: The AFC.com


Yarmouk SC 3-5 Al Rayyan

Sunday, 01 July 2012

Kuwait City: Qatar’s Al Rayyan capped an exciting first day of the AFC Club Futsal Championship with a highly entertaining 5-3 win over hosts Yarmouk SC.

Shamari Radi scored a brace for the winners to join Sanaye Giti Pasand at the top of Group A table.

Also registering their names in the scoresheet for Al Rayyan were Antonio Vadillo, Akiri Minamoto and Ali Al Sabah.

Thiago Gabriel tried to rescue Yarmouk with two beautifully taken goals but that was not enough for Yarmouk. Kuwait international Hamad Alawadhi also scored for Yarmouk.

Gabriel brought local supports to their feet with a pile driver as early as in the first minute of the match. Despite Yarmouk’s early effort to stamp their authority, Al Rayyan just took another four minutes to level the match when Radi scored off a cross from Mossein Amro.

Yarmouk took the lead again in the 12th minute from Alwadhi’s goal but again the lead just lasted for three minutes as Radi fired his second to level it 2-2 in the 14th minute.

“Full credit to Al Rayyan for playing superb futsal today, they were in full control of the match,” young Yarmouk coach Eder De Souza told reporters.

“We were also very good with a lion's share of possession and good chances to score but our finishing was appalling. We must convert our chances in upcoming matches.

“I don’t believe that losing the first match means you are out of the competition, we have chances to rectify the shortcomings that we saw today in the next two matches,” he added.

Al Rayyan took the lead in the match for the first time just a minute after Radi’s second and this time the scorer was Brazilian Vadillo, who had Al Sabah to thank for setting up perhaps the easiest opportunity to score a goal in an international competition.

“Our players stuck to the team talk and we were rewarded with three points,” Al Rayyan’s Spanish tactician Juan Antonio said.

“We knew this Yarmouk side could be dangerous and the local crowd will spur them so one of my team talks was about the atmosphere in the stadium and my players came out unscathed from the hostile crowd.

“Both the sides deserve credit for the way they approached the match, it was a high tempo match with both the sides scoring loads of goal,” he added.

Despite playing much of the second half in their half, Al Rayyan were more clinical on counter-attacks in the second half with Japanese export Minamoto and Al Sabah scoring further goals against the run of play.

Playing as a power player, Gabriel tried his best by reducing the deficit in the 37th minute but a long range effort at the empty post in the last action of the match from Al Sabah secured a 5-3 win for Al Rayyan.

Monday’s Matches
Ardus vs All Sports
GH Bank vs Nagoya Oceans
Al Rayyan vs Sanaye Giti Pasand
Thai Son Nam vs Yarmouk




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