Courtesy: The AFC.com


Asian futsal hits top gear

Monday, 09 July 2012

Kuwait City: The growth of Asian futsal was there for all to see during the eight-team AFC Futsal Club Championship 2012 in Kuwait City recently.

Sanaye Giti Pasand managed to bring Iranian futsal back into the limelight after their national side failed to retain the crown in the AFC Futsal Championship in Dubai earlier this year but a strong showing by other clubs underlined the upward trajectory of Asian futsal.

The Iranians were stretched to the limit by Uzbekistan’s Ardus who lost the hard-fought final 2-1. This was the second title for Iranian clubs in the three-year history of the competition following Foolad Mahan Sepahan’s triumph in the inaugural edition in 2010.

Japanese outfit Nagoya Oceans won the last edition of the championship beating another Iranian side Shahid Mansouri.

The Iranian victory also prompted AFC Acting President Zhang Jilong to urge the rest of Asia to take a leaf out of the Iranian book when he said in his congratulatory message: “Giti Pasand and Iranian futsal once again emerged as the powerhouse of Asian futsal and other clubs across the continent should learn from the Iranians’ performances and efforts to take the game at a different level.”

Such was Giti Pasand’s dominance in the competition that they only conceded five goals and netted a whopping 28 goals in five matches they played in the competition.

“Those are statistics but all the matches were very tight in this competition. None of our matches were easy,” summed up Giti Pasand coach Afzal Alireza, who termed the competition as “one of the competitive competitions of AFC”.

The brighter mark of the six-day competition was the emergence of other clubs from Asia who had a memorable tournament.

Uzbek giants Ardus erased their ‘perennial underachiever’ tag by making it to the final which was preceeded by a shock 4-3 win over 2011 champions Nagoya Oceans in the group opener and Qatar’s Al Rayyan in the semi-final.

Lebanon’s All Sports Club surprised many by thrashing finalists Ardus 6-2 but they failed to make it to the knockout stage despite earning four points from the first two group matches.

Uzbekistan’s Spanish coach Pazos Mendez, who is an expert in Asian futsal, believes that Asian futsal is growing fastest among other confederations.

“Whether it is a national team or club competition, the level of futsal is growing in Asia as seven clubs out of eight were the favourites to win this tournament. I think this is one of the most competitive tournaments in Asia,” he said.

“The rapid upsurge of Asian futsal in the recent past proves that the future is bright. Based on my knowledge, I can tell you that Asian futsal is growing fastest compared to the rest of the world.”




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