the-afc.com
Bangkok
Iran got their AFC Futsal Asian Cup Thailand™ 2024 Group D campaign off to a strong start at Hua Mark Indoor Stadium with a 3-1 win over debutants Afghanistan on Thursday.
A brace from Saeid Ahmadabasi and a strike from Mahdi Karimi proved to be the difference as Iran eventually broke down hard-working opponents who restricted the Asian futsal powerhouses to just one goal at half-time before Mehran Ghorlami wrote his own little piece of history with his nation’s maiden goal at the tournament.
Afghanistan kept a dominant Iran at bay in the opening phases of the match until the 12-time champions finally opened the scoring just before the halfway mark of the first half when Karimi broke the deadlock.
And it was a goal worth waiting for as ’s cute backheel pass found Karimi steaming through on the left to slam his strike past Mohammad Safari.
If the game had to wait a while for its first goal following the initial kick-off, it needed no time for its second after half-time as right from kick-off Ahmadabasi closed down the Afghanistan defense, recovered the ball, danced he way past two opponents with ease and then unleashed a rocket of a shot into the roof of the net.
And just a minute later the same player had his brace and Iran’s third. A flowing move saw Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh find Mohammadhossein Derakhshani who in turn played in Ahmadabasi to drill confidently home from a slight angle.
Vahid Shamasee’s side did not have it all their own way and Afghanistan aimed to hit the Iranians on the counter when the opportunity allowed, but it was the continental heavyweights who could have extended their lead further when Behrooz Azimi slammed an effort from just inside the area against the crossbar on 24 minutes.
Nevertheless, Afghanistan continued to seek a historic maiden AFC Futsal Asian Cup goal, and two minutes later their hard graft was rewarded when Ghorlami fired home after being set up by Hussain Mohammadi.
Despite conceding, Iran were content to sit on their two-goal advantage and Afghanistan were unable to make further headway as the 2022 runners-up began their campaign on the front foot.
Iran will next face Bahrain on Saturday, while Afghanistan meet Kuwait in the day’s earlier game at Hua Mark Indoor Stadium.