Courtesy:
The AFC.comChonburi aim to maintain winning habitSunday, 14 April 2013Shah Alam: Thailand’s Chonburi Bluewave are the only side in the AFC Club Futsal Championship 2013 Zone 2 Qualifiers who have won all their matches played in the competition so far and coach Pazos Mendez is in no mood to let the rhythm break in the Monday’s semi-final against Dural Warriors.
Chonburi Bluewave topped Group A with nine points from three matches scoring 21 goals and conceding just eight in the process. After convincingly defeating star-studded Chinese side Shenzhen Nanling, the tournament is for them to lose but coach Mendez is not taking anything for granted.
“I believe most of the teams are at the same level in this competition so it won’t be easy for us,” Mendez told www.the-afc.com.
“Dural is physically strong side and that is a great advantages for them. They also have few well experienced top players who can change the game at any time so we have to be on our guard on Monday,” he said.
Dural must thank Vietnamese side Thai Son Nam who notched an equalizer with just 22 seconds remaining against Pelindo meaning the Indonesians suffered early exit and Dural finish the group as runners-up.
Thai Son Nam, who managed to qualify for the 2012 finals, face Shenzhen Nanling who had recorded big wins in their previous two matches but were convincingly defeated by Chonburi.
“Futsal has seen rapid growth in Vietnam so they are a well-trained experienced side,” Shenzhen coach Wu Zhuoxi said.
“If I am correct, the Vietnamese side beat our national team in past so it will be an interesting match,” said the coach who is waiting for the fitness updates of his top scorer Danilo Moura who missed the match against Chonburi Bluewave on Saturday.
“We need to monitor his situation on Monday morning and only then we will come to conclusion. He was not feeling well on Saturday that’s why he missed out that match against Chonburi,” he added.
Thai Son Nam’s Italian coach Sergio Gargelli put the Chinese as favourite to progress the final. “On paper I would say they are 60 percent favourites but if we stick to our strategies, we can pull that 40 percent chance in our favour,” he said.
The winner of the semi-final will book berths in the August finals to be held in Nagoya, Japan while the losers will play a third-place playoff with the winner joining the finalists in the tournament proper.
Monday's SemifinalsMatch Time Venue
Chonburi Bluewave vs Dural Warriors - 15:30 - Panasonic Sports Complex
Thai Son Nam vs Shenzhen Nanling - 19:00 - Panasonic Sports Complex
Posted by
Luca Ranocchiari -->
luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com
