Futsal Team Melli , continued its championship winning trail by defeating Japan 5-2 this morning , in the final match of the 2013 Asian Indoor games in South Korea to win the title and team Gold Medals.

In the first half , Iran was in control , but could not create serious chances. In a counterattack move in the 13th minute, Japan scored the only goal of the half. After the goal , Team Melli increased its pressured on the Japanese , but there was no goal coming. Japan however , nearly doubled the score late in the half when they were awarded a penalty which Sepehr Mohammady saved in goal and got slightly injured in the process. 3 Iranian players received yellow cards in the 1st half. Tahebi, Hassanzadeh and Vafaei.

In the 2nd half , Iran finally managed to score the equalizer from the penalty spot after Japan exceeded their 5 fouls. Ali Vafaei took that long penalty and equalized. Hossein Tayebi put Iran ahead two minutes later from a corner kick.

In the 31st minute, Mohammed Taheri then scored a third for Iran after dribbling past the Japanese defenders before shooting the ball up the opposing team roof. 3 -1 for Iran. Jesus Candelas was still not too satisfied with the margin and in a brave move , he replaced the the keeper with the veteran Mohammad Keshavarz to increase the pressure on the Japanese and limit their offensive moves. However, this move was rather risky as the Japanese nearly scored in the keeper-less Iranian goal. However, with 4 minutes left to the end, Japan managed to reduce the deficit when they scored the 2nd to make it 3-2 for Iran.

With one Japanese player out of the game and playing short, Iran took maximum advantage as Asghar Hassanzadeh and then Vahid Shafei scored two goals for Iran in the last two minutes of the match.

The match ended 5-2,   Iran’s goal were scored by Alireza Vafaei (2), Hassanzadeh, Taheri and Shafei. This was Iran’s  fifth win in the row previously defeating UAE,Iraq, China and Thailand. It was also Iran’s 4th consecutive title in the Asian Indoor Games.

Prior to this match , Thailand which lost to Iran in a close match in the semi-final, beat Kuwait 9-6 to win the bronze medal.

On Friday , a similar encounter between Iran and Japan in the women version of the Futsal competition ended in favor of Japan Women Futsal team 2-1 in extra time. Iran’s women team achievement by winning the silver medal is its first ever at this level and a good omen for the sport despite some serious limitations.

The 4th Asian Indoor Games ends today in Incheon, South Korea with China leading the medal table by a big margin from host South Korea.