Ho Chi Minh City: Goalkeeper Yushi Sekiguchi saved three penalties in the shootout as Japan retained the AFC Futsal Championship title following a 2-2 draw after extra-time in Saturday’s final at Phu Tho Stadium.

Japan twice came from behind through Kotaro Inaba and an extra-time own goal from Hamid Ahmadi after Farhad Tavakoli and Hossein Tayebi had given 10-time champions Iran the lead.

And in the shootout, Sekiguchi saved from Mohammad Taheri, Ghodrat Bahadori and Asghar Hassanzadeh, with Kazuhiro Nibuya, Tomoki Yoshikawa and Akira Minamoto converting for Japan to seal a 3-0 victory.

After Japan had beaten Kuwait in the semi-finals and Iran had eased past Uzbekistan, the highly-anticipated final started at a high tempo and it was Iran goalkeeper Alireza Samimi who was first called into action to deny Manabu Takita after just 30 seconds.

Sekiguchi then denied Hassanzadeh at the other end on three minutes before the Japan custodian stopped Vahid Shafiei’s header from point blank range.

And with the momentum in their favour, Iran opened the scoring after eight minutes when Tayebi pulled the ball back for Tavakoli to drill a low shot through a crowded penalty area and past Sekiguchi.

The Japan goalkeeper then almost handed Iran a second in the 12th minute when he tried to chip a ball forward only for the pass to be cut out by Shafiei, but fortunately Sekiguchi was able to recover to block the resulting shot.

Sekiguchi then saved from Mohammad Shajari after Nobuya Osodo had been caught in possession on the halfway line a minute before half-time.

Iran kept Sekiguchi busy after half-time, but despite Japan struggling to find a foothold in the game, they levelled the tie in the 26th minute as Inaba’s free-kick went under the wall and through the legs of Samimi.

And Japan almost completed the comeback with four minutes remaining as Alireza Vafaei’s handball on the halfway line brought up Iran’s the sixth team foul, but Inaba fired wide from the resulting penalty.

There was, though, still time for Iran to have their chance to claim the title as Sekiguchi denied Hassanzadeh with just four seconds remaining to send the tie to extra-time.

But Iran were not to be denied just two minutes into the first half of extra-time as Tayebi was allowed to turn after receiving Vafaei’s pass and he fired his shot under the body of Sekiguchi.

Japan coach Miguel Rodrigo eventually responded in the second half of extra-time by introducing Osodo in place of goalkeeper Sekiguchi.

And the move paid off after just 40 seconds as Ahmadi deflected Tomoaki Watanabe’s low shot into his own net.

Japan almost snatched victory with 40 seconds remaining, but Nibuya blazed over from close range to send the tie to penalties.

Nibuya, though, was able to set Japan on their way in the shootout before Sekiguchi denied Taheri.

Yoshikawa then extended the lead via the crossbar before Sekiguchi again saved from Bahadori.

And after Minamoto drilled his penalty past Samimi, Sekiguchi saved from Hassanzadeh to hand Japan a third AFC Futsal Championship title.

Ho Che Minh

Iran’s futsal team registered another emphatic win in AFC Asian Fustal championship 2014 when the defeated Uzbekistan in the semi-finals of the championship 10-0 to easily qualify for the penultimate match against their Nemesis Japan.

The defending champion defeated Kuwait earlier in the day 6-1 to take it berth in the final and for the first time in its history , it will be in the position of defending its title.

It did not take Team Melli long before the star of the championship Hossein Tayyebi opened the scoring in the first minute.

Within 8 minutes, Team Melli scored 4 more goals to make it 5-0.

Hossein Tayyebi completed his Hat trick , Hassanzadeh , the 4th was scored by Esmaeilpour with a beautiful long free kick and shafei scored the fifth.

After the 5th goal Jesus Candelas smartly rotated his players giving many bench players some needed playing time. With decreasing the tempo and introduction of the bench players , the goals dried up until the end of the half

2^nd half

Iran started with a mix of regulars and bench players and were rewarded with early quick goals.

Vahid Shafei opened the scoring the 3th m then Hossein tayyebi scored twice before Shajari scoring number 9 and 10

Uzbekistan was really playing to avoid a heavy defeat and most of their strategy was on damage limitation.

Otherwise , much of the of the 2^nd half was one way traffic for Iran with Team Melli players taking the freedom to perform all sort of tricks and do whatever they liked in the match. It was also a splendid practice for the 2 Uzbek keepers whom despite receiving a bagful of goals, both saved many goals as well.

It is very obvious that the more the championship is progressing the better is the Team plays, the better is their cohesion and understanding, finding each other without visual contact.

Shajari splendid goal 9th from a cracking long range shoot into the roof of the net was the goal of the match , while Tayyebi with his goals was the undisputed MVP.

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afc REPORT

Ho Chi Minh City: Hossein Tayebi and Vahid Shafiei both scored hat-tricks as 10-time champions Iran secured a place in the AFC Futsal Championship final against defending champions Japan after recording an eye-catching 10-0 win over Uzbekistan at Phu Tho Stadium on Thursday.

Alireza Vafaei, Asghar Hassanzadeh, Ahmad Esmaeilpour and Mohammad Shajara also scored as Iran maintained their 100% tournament record, with the one-sided win securing an 11th AFC Futsal Championship final appearance.

Uzbekistan, who lost to Iran in the quarter-finals two years ago in the United Arab Emirates, had also reached the semi-finals with an unbeaten record but conceded five goals in each half and will now face Kuwait in Saturday’s third place play-off.

Having beaten hosts Vietnam in Wednesday’s quarter-final, Iran got off to a blistering start and took the lead after just 42 seconds when Vafaei stepped inside, and without being closed down, fired a shot into the corner of the goal.

Ghodrat Bahadori thought he had doubled the lead in the fourth minute but saw his long-range effort cannon off the crossbar.

But with Japan coach Miguel Rodrigo in the stands having seen his side beat Kuwait 6-1 earlier, the second did come 30 seconds later when Tayebi was found on the edge of the penalty area and he spun to score.

Tayebi then turned provider less than a minute later by cutting out goalkeeper Rustam Umarov for Hassanzadeh to pass the ball into the net.

And Iran further extended their lead in the seventh minute when Artur Yunusov pulled back on the shirt of Esmaeilpour to concede a free-kick, and he made no mistake with a low strike past Umarov.

Uzbekistan managed to stem the flow of goals and nearly found a response four minutes before half-time when Shuhrat Tojiboev found Davron Choriev from a corner, but his shot from point-blank range was blocked by goalkeeper Alireza Samimi.

Iran, though, continued to control the pace of the game after the restart and Shafiei got his second of the contest after 24 minutes when he was found in the area with his back to goal and he was able to spin his defender and drill the ball into the net.

Tayebi netted his second and Iran’s seventh when he turned Farhad Tavakoli’s cross past Umarov in the 27th minute to complete this third hat-trick of the tournament.

And after Shajari added a ninth in the 30th minute, Iran brought up double figures as Shafiei wrapped up his hat-trick when he was found open in the area by Esmaeilpou

Ho che Minh

Iran’s Futsal team defeated Australia 8-1 on Sunday to complete the Group matches with a perfect record in an enthralling Group B contest at Ton Duc Thang University Stadium. Australia entered the match after two wins in as many matches, the same record as Iran with determination to end the Persian dominance over them lasting for years.

Iranian players , however , continued their excellent performance following the match against China where they put a dozen goals past the hapless Chinese without reply. The excellent Hossein Tayyebi scored in the first minute while Mohammad Taheri scored 4 minutes later to make it 2-0 for Iran. Tayyebi completed his hat trick within 10 minutes after scoring twice, to make it 4 for Iran, Australia scored one goal while  Vafaei (15) and  Shafei (16) added two more goals for the first half to finish with Iran leading by a big margin , 6-1.

Like the previous match , Candelas decided to give playing time for the bench players in the second half. While Team Melli eased the pressure , they still added to more goal by Esmaelipour (28) and Taheri (29). The match ended 8-1 for Team Melli to easily go through the group stages along with the runner up Australia.

In the other group match played at the same time , Indonesia narrowly defeated China 4-3

IRIB was supposed to broadcast the match live to the viewers, however Javad Khiabani claimed that technical problems is preventing the live broadcast of the match(…), however few minutes later on another Iranian TV channel, the sport news was aired and the Newscaster announced that Iran was leading Australia in AFC Futsal match in Vietnam , while showing live and clear footage of the match. There was no technical problems there!!!

In the Quarter finals round , Iran will be meeting the Runner Up of Group A  (Iraq or Vietnam) on the 7th May.

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Afc,cim report

Ho Chi Minh City: Hossein Tayebi scored a first half hat-trick as 10-time champions Iran recorded a third consecutive win at the AFC Futsal Championship with Sunday’s 8-1 victory over Australia at Phu Tho Stadium securing top spot in Group C.

Mohammad Taheri, Alireza Vafaei and Vahid Shafiei also scored for Iran in the first half, with Daniel Fogarty briefly equalising for Australia after Tayebi’s earlier opener.

And with Ahmad Esmailpour and Taheri extending Iran’s advantage in the second half, Iran added to their earlier wins over Indonesia and China to set-up a quarter-final meeting with the runners-up from Group A.

Australia, meanwhile, will face the winners of Group A having seen their 100% recorded ended.

“I think that the result came totally in the first half. In the second half I wanted to score more goals and play fast, but Australia were happy with the score,” said Iran coach Jesus Candelas.

“We are going step-by-step and each game we are just trying to get a good result, but we have to win just to keep the mentality of the team positive.

“Sometimes scoring too many goals can have a negative consequence so I have to make sure my players remain focused.”

Having earlier beaten Indonesia and China, it took just 60 seconds for Iran to open the scoring as Tayebi followed up after Adam Cooper had blocked Asghar Hassanzadeh’s shot.

But Australia found themselves back on level terms as Fogarty fired into the roof of the net from Tobias Seeto’s corner.

Iran, though, regained the lead in controversial circumstances in the 10th minute as Shafiei crossed for Taheri to score with Australia calling for play to be stopped after a second ball had entered the field of play.

And Iran doubled their lead when Shafiei saw his shot from a tight angle parried by Australia goalkeeper Peter Spathis straight to the feet of Tayebi to tap in his second of the game.

Tayebi completed his first half hat-trick in the 11th minute when a long ball forward found him with just the Spathis to beat, and he kept his composure to side-step the goalkeeper and roll the ball into an empty net.

Iran’s fifth goal arrived in the 15th minute when a clearance from Cooper fell straight to the feet of Vafaei who shot low through the legs of Spathis.

And Iran went into the break with a five goal advantage when a loose pass from Greg Giovenali was intercepted by Esmailpour and Shafiei fired past Spathis.

Esmailpour further extended in the 28th minute as he stepped inside onto his right foot before placing his shot into the bottom corner.

And a minute later Esmailpour was again involved in Iran’s eighth and final goal as he played a one-two with Taheri who scored his second of the match.

“We have very rarely played at this level and before the game the players were excited to play against such a quality team,” said Australia coach Steve Knight.

“The first 10 minutes we competed, but we have very different goals to Iran and we were able to achieve some of our goals.”