Courtesy:
The AFC.comAl Sadd 3-1 Dordoi FCFriday, 19 April 2013Shah Alam: Qatar’s Al Sadd recorded a comfortable 3-1 victory over Kyrgyzstan’s Dordoi FC to open the Group B of the Zone 1 qualifiers of the AFC Futsal Club Championship 2013 in a promising note at the Panasonic Sports Complex on Friday.
The runners-up of the inaugural edition of the competition remained dominant throughout and were comfortable winners over the Kyrgyz side who must defeat Al Salmiya of Kuwait on Saturday to remain in contention of the finals to be played in Nagoya in August.
Despite having a firm control over Dordoi, the Qatari champions had to wait till the 16th minute when they were awarded penalty after captain Kuka Kanimet appeared to handle the ball inside the penalty area. Ahmad Mollaali took the spot kick and converted for Al Sadd’s 1-0 lead.
Mohamed Ibrahim Rashid made it 2-0 in the 28th minute through a superbly taken volley off the corner of captain Amro Mohssein and Mohamed Ismail killed the match off with Al Sadd’s third through counter-attack in the 32nd minute.
Erkin Kesha pulled one consolation goal for Dordoi with less than two minutes remaining to make it 3-1.
“It was a first match and was not easy at all,” Al Sadd coach Mohamed Eisa told www.the-afc.com. “The opponents were very good and they played like a unit. Their goalkeeper was also brilliant going forward so we need to keep them at check which we did,” he said.
“But since the first matches of any competition are very tricky, I am happy that my players showed experiences and were clinical enough to get all three points which is vital.
“I am sure we have lot more to offer. Now the players got the idea of the pitch and condition and we will get a chance to study our opponents so I am keeping my finger crossed to see an improved Al Sadd side in upcoming matches,” he added.
Dordoi team manager Jenish Kojonaliev fumed over his side’s lack of fighting spirit in the first half as a reason behind the defeat.
“We just remained passive in the first half and had to pay the price for it,” he said.
“They are a good side and we had a good second half but the disallowed goal did not do a big favour to us,” he added referring to a goal which was disallowed because of the off-the-ball incident.
“We are still in the competition but yes we must beat Salmiya tomorrow, I know we have the capability to do it,” he quipped.
GoalsAl Sadd: Ahmad Mollaali 16', Mohamed Ibrahim Rashid 28', Mohamed Ismail Ahmed 32'
Dordoi FC: Erkin Kesha 39'
Courtesy:
The AFC.comAl Sadaka 3-3 Naft Al WasatFriday, 19 April 2013Shah Alam: Iraqi debutant Naft Al Wasat Club recorded a stunning 3-3 draw over Lebanon Al Sadaka in their opening match of Group A on Friday in the Zone 1 qualifiers of the AFC Futsal Club Championship 2013.
In the keenly contested match played at the Panasonic Sports Complex, the Iraqis had a brilliant start after captain Firas Mohammed found the net in the very first minute of the match through a silky counter-attack to put the Lebanese under pressure from the beginning.
In what appeared to be the contrasting final result, the Lebanese were on the top of the game throughout but their inefficiency at the final third combined by outstanding goalkeeping from Ahmed Duraid kept all their effort at bay in the first half.
The Iraqis doubled their lead in the 13th minute in yet another well-coordinated move. Al Sadaka’s goalie Rabie El Kakhi, who played as forward player in the last year’s final in Kuwait from Al Sports Club, fumbled while gathering Mustafa Bachay’s cross at the centre and goalscorer Karrar Mohsin tapped in to make it 2-0.
Al Sadaka’s fight-back begun within less than 30 seconds of the second half after lapses of concentration from Naft players gave a vital lifeline to the Lebanese as Hassan Chaito made it 2-1.
With Al Sadaka looking for equalizer and being adventurous, Naft scored their second counter-attack goal from Bachay to make it 3-1 again in the 24th minute. Three minutes later a long-distance effort from Al Sadaka’s Serbian import Rajic Predrag lifted the spirit of the Lebanese making it 3-2.
There was a huge relief in Al Sadaka’s camp after Hassan Chaito capitalized on the mistake of the Naft defenders and rescued a point in the 36th minute with his second of the match.
“It was better getting a point rather than to loss, isn’t it?” questioned Al Sadaka coach Hussein Dib.
“In fact, we made lots of mistakes and had to pay the price because this Iraqi team (Naft) are very strong in counter-attack and we failed to close the gap to them so they keep on hitting us.
“The main problem was our failure to convert chances otherwise it would have been little bit comfortable for us,” he said.
His counterpart Haitham Abbas also paid tribute to his goalkeeper Duraid who pulled strings of saves throughout the match.
“He is very good, and a commanding figure in the squad. Besides, he is very strong as he had a brilliant match today,” the coach summed up Duraid’s performance.
“The Lebanese are one of the contenders so winning a point is good but we should have defended properly to walk away with all three points,” he added.
GoalsAl Sadaka: Hassan Chaito 21', 36', Rajic Predrag 28'
Naft Al Wasat: Faris Mohamed 1', Karrar Mohasin 13', Mustafa Bachay 24'
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