Iran Secures Place in FIFA Futsal World Cup | ||
Iran Secures Place in FIFA Futsal World Cup Iran as the 10-time Asian winner was defeated by Thailand in the semifinals of the 2012 AFC Futsal Championships in the United Arab Emirates. Thailand defeated Iran 5-4 in extra time. Captain Vahid Shamsaee gave Iran the lead four minutes after the match and Hossein Tayyebi doubled the lead three minutes later. Suphawut Thueanklang scored one goal for Thailand in the first half. Javad Asghari Moqaddam scored Iran's third goal in the second half. However, Suphawut Thueanklang and Jirawat Sornwichian scored for the Thai team, extending the match into extra time. Apiwat Chaemcharoen put Thailand ahead three minutes after the break. Captain Shamsaee leveled the match, but Suphawut Thueanklang scored his third goal and Thailand’s fifth goal just seconds before the final whistle. The semifinal match secured Iran’s place in the FIFA Futsal World Cup which is slated to be held in Thailand later this year. Prior to the match, the Iranian national futsal team pummeled Uzbekistan to glide to the semifinals of the 2012 AFC Futsal Championship. The Iranian squad thrashed Uzbekistan 6-3 at Dubai’s Al-Shabab stadium on. “It was a good competitive match but we were on our guard,” Iran’s coach Ali Sane’I said, adding, “We had some anxious moment but still we controlled the match, scored a couple of early goals and never let Uzbekistan to bounce back.” Before its victory against Uzbekistan, the Iranian national team trounced Australia to advance to the quarterfinals of the games. In its third and final game of the group stages, Iran gave the Australian side a 9-0 drubbing at the Al Wasl Indoor Stadium. In its first two games in Group C, the Iranian squad had eased past South Korea and Qatar, 14-1 and 8-0 respectively. The Iranian national futsal team also blanked Qatar 8-0 in its second match in the preliminary round of the 2012 AFC Futsal Championship. After the match, Iranian coach Ali Sane’i said, “It turned out exactly how we expected… We knew that Qatar would sit at the back and defend, (and) we had to attack smartly. Iran has won the AFC Futsal Championship 10 times in the last 11 tournaments. | ||
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