Courtesy: The AFC.com


Nagoya Oceans 4-1 Al Rayyan

Friday, 06 July 2012

Kuwait City: Japanese champions Nagoya Oceans defeated Qatar’s Al Rayyan 4-1 to win the third place play-off of the AFC Futsal Club Championship 2012 held at Yarmouk Indoor Stadium on Friday.

The member association of the play-off winners will have the luxury of getting a direct berth in next year’s finals. Al Rayyan, who were defeated in the semi-final and went on to miss the third-place last year, had the same fate again and next year’s Qatari champions will have to feature in the qualifiers to make it into the tournament proper.

Rafael Henmi scored a brace while Wataru Kitahara and Shuta Mori also notched a goal apiece for the Japanese. The only Rayyan goal came from Antonio Vadillo.

Both sides started the match with free-flow futsal but it was Oceans who drew the first blood in the 9th minute after Al Rayyan goalie Abdullah Badi committed a horrible mistake in front of goal.

Badi failed to gather a cross from Tomoki Yoshikawa and the ball went straight into the feet of Rafael Henmi as the 2012 AFC Futsal Championship MVP did not make any mistake to put the Japanese 1-0 in front.

Oceans goalkeeper Hisamitsu Kawahara also committed a silly mistake allowing Al Rayyan to get back into the match. Kawahara fumbled collecting an Antonio Vadillo shot in the 13th minute as referee Mohammed Al Haddad allowed the goal to stand for Al Rayyan.

“We tried hard but we were up against a quality side, so the boys could not keep up the tempo later,” coach Juan Antonio of Al Rayyan said.

“Overall, we had a good tournament and hopefully next year we get a chance to participate and come back strong,” he added.

Wataru Kitahara scored one of the best goals of the tournament after he collected a sublime pass from Yuichi Kitajima and buried a powerful left-footer giving no chance to Rayyan goalkeeper Badi to prevent the 2-1 lead in the 14th minute.

Despite missing key players Rafael Yoshio Sakai, Kogure Kenichiro and Tomoaki Watanabe, Oceans controlled the second half with captain Shuta Mori scoring one and setting up Henmi’s double as they sealed a comfortable 4-1 victory over the Qataris.

“We had injuries to our players and not been playing with full strength so to come over those problems and at least take back something from the tournament is satisfactory,” Nagoya’s Portuguese coach Jose Amarante said. “The whole squad including myself are very happy to finish third of this competitive tournament,” he added.




Courtesy: The AFC.com


Giti Pasand win Club Futsal Championship

Saturday, 07 July 2012

Kuwait City: Sanaye Giti Pasand were crowned AFC Futsal Club Championship 2012 champions with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Uzbekistan’s Ardus at the Yarmouk Indoor Stadium on Friday, becoming the second Iranian club to clinch the coveted title after Sepahan won the inaugural championship in 2010.

A deflected goal off Artur Yunusov in Afshin Kazemi’s effort gave the Iranian champions an early 1-0 lead in the 3rd minute but Yunusov himself brought the match at level within seconds of the second half followed by a decisive goal from Rudimar Venancio in the 24th minute.

Yunusov, the semi-goal scoring hero playing after a long injury layoff, had an eventful evening as the ball that deflected off him gave the Iranians a 1-0 lead. Credit goes to Kazemi for connecting a powerful shot in the penalty area as goalkeeper Rustam Umarov could not react to stop the deflection off Yunusov.

Ardus’ Jamoliddin got the chance of the match just before the half-time but his fierce shot somehow hit the inside of the goalpost and fell back on the lap of Giti Pasand goalie Hossein Hafshejani.

Ardus brought the match at level within the 30 seconds of the second half after the tournament’s top scorer Ahmad Esmaeilpour failed to perform his defending duties properly. Sharipov’s pass to Yunusov went on Esmaeilpour’s feet but the lanky forward missed the ball and Yunusov utilised the opportunity at its best making it 1-1.

A clever piece of futsal all around helped Giti Pasand hit back in the match with a decisive goal in the 24th minute. Captain Mohammed Keshavarz cleverly passed a freekick to Kazemi who, rounding off two Uzbek defenders, cleverly released the ball to unmarked Venancio who slotted home the 2-1 decisive lead for Giti Pasand.

Ardus tried their best but brilliant goalkeeping from Hafshejani kept all their efforts at bay as Giti Pasand became the second Iranian club to win the competition.

Nagoya Oceans were awarded a 'Fair Play' trophy while Giti Pasand's Mohammed Keshavarz was declared MVP of the tournament. Keshavarz's teammate Esmaeilpour walked away with the top scorer honour with nine goals. AFC Acting President Zhang Jilong and Kuwait Football Association (KFA) President Sheikh Talal Fahad Al Sabah gave away the medals and trophy.




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