Source: The-AFC.com

Morioka Kaoru notched a hattrick as Nagoya Oceans claimed third position second time in running after beating Chinese side Shenzhen Nanling 6-4 in a highly entertaining third-place playoff match of the AFC Club Futsal Championship 2013.

Nagoya, who were edged by Iranian defending champions Sanaye Giti Pasand in the semi-final, had defeated Qatar’s Al Rayyan 4-1 at the same stage of the championship last year in Kuwait.

The Chinese led by former Nagoya coach Adil Amarante started brilliantly going 2-0 up within first 15 minutes.

Shenzhen could only score a goal against the same opponents in the group stages but this time around Iranian international Masoud Daneshvar netted the opener in the 8th minute. He scored his sixth of the championship and Shenzhen’s second of the match in the 15th minute but Nagoya came back strongly as Kaoru scored his first in the 16th minute.

Goalkeeper Shinoda Ryuma made it 2-2 in the 18th minute and another goal from Pedro Da Silva put the Japanese briefly on top but He Yihui pulled one back for the Chinese side as they went to halftime with the match evenly balanced at 3-3.

Nagoya started the second half with promising note with Shirakata scoring his first goal of the tournament in the 21st minute. Kaoru’s second in the 26th minute made it 5-3 but Yihui scored his second of the afternoon in the 28th minute to reduce the parity.

A 36th minute goal from Kaoru, which was his second hattrick in the tournament, sealed the win for the home side.

“I am satisfied with our approaches in all the matches played including today’s match against Nagoya,” a visibly satisfied Amarante said after the match.

“We showed high quality performance, as only some mistakes cost us the match. We played against a good Nagoya side with confidence and good mental approach,” he added.

Nagoya coach Victor Acosta paid homage to his players for putting on best performances throughout.

“I must congratulate my players,” he said.

“We played three very good matches during the group stages and though we were unlucky in the semi-final, we bounced back today and brought cheers back to our supporters.

“It was a difficult match and the opponents resorted on power-play very early which was unexpected and we went on to concede two goals before managing to recover,” he added.





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