English given Iranian lesson

GOAL-BOUND: Iran's player Hamid Shandizi scores past the England defenders and goalkeeper Graham Smith in their Kuala Lumpur World Futsal match at the Putra Stadium. Iran whipped England 14-1 to qualify for the semi-finals. - STARpic by A. Malex Yahaya

KUALA LUMPUR: Asian champions Iran stormed into the semi-finals of the KL World Futsal (five-a-side) tournament in style when they made short work of England 14-1 in a Group D match at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil here yesterday. 

It was the second straight win for the Iranians in Group D after they got off to an easy 7-1 victory over Uzbekistan in the opening game on Tuesday. 

Besides Iran, two other teams also booked their semi-final tickets. They are tournament favourites Brazil from Group A and Uruguay from Group C. 

The England national team, who are making their international debut, were hardly any match for the more skilful Iranian players, who were camped in their opponent's half for most of the game. 

Iran have come with strong credentials. They were crowned Asian champions from 1999 to 2002 and finished fourth in the FIFA Futsal World Championship in 1992. 

Head coach Mohamed Hassan Ansarifar did not mince with his words when he said they were now ready for bigger challenges after the huge win over the inexperienced England side. 

“It does not matter who our opponents are in the semi-finals. Be it Japan or Argentina. It makes no difference. We will be prepared for them,'' he said Ansarifar. 

Iran, the Group D champions, are scheduled to play the winners of Group B in the last four. The two teams vying for the slot is Japan and Argentina. 

Argentina have a showdown with Japan today in their last group match in Group B. Japan defeated Indonesia 9-1 in their opening game while Argentina downed the Indons 20-1. 

Iran for the record defeated Japan 6-0 in the Asian Futsal Final last year. 

In the match yesterday, Iran raced to a 5-0 lead by the first-half with England only conjuring up their first attempt at goal 10 minutes into the match but goalkeeper Reza Nasseri saved Michael Corran’s shot. 

By the second half the match was a foregone conclusion as Hamid Shandizi top scored for Iran with a hattrick while Ahmad Pari Azar, Ali Sanei Arani, Mohsen Zarei, Mohamed Reza Heidarian managed a brace each. Moitaba Ahangaran, Mohamed Hashemzader and Kazem Mohammadi added a goal each. 

England's consolation goal was scored by Richard Norris in the second-half. 

England head coach Graeme Dell conceded defeat graciously and blamed the defeat on the lack of development plans for the event in their country. 

“Iran have showed why they are one of the best teams in the world. We have a long way to go because we don't have a good development programme. 

“But we have plans to promote futsal back at home in a big way soon. We hope to have a national league by next year and then we would have a bigger and better pool of players,'' he said. 

The Brazilians, three-time world champions, could not repeat their goalscoring spree but did enough to beat Thailand 4-1 in the last match last night. 

In the opening game Brazil got off to an explosive start when they massacred South Africa 30-0. Brazil are drawn to play Uruguay in the semi-finals on Saturday. 

Uruguay had struggled past Malaysia 5-3 win in the opening game and yesterday, they found Guatemala a similar tough nut to crack before eventually winning 4-2. 

Meanwhile, the organisers will be distributing 5,000 free tickets daily to fans from today. Those interested can collect the tickets, available at first-come-first-serve basis, at the main entrance of the stadium.

Mohammad Hashemzader (5th)
Hamid Shandizi (10th, 27th)
Moitaba Moeeini (14th, 32nd)
Ahmad Pari Azar (17th, 28th)
Ali Sanei Arani (18th, 26th)
Kazem Mohammadi (22nd)
Mohsen Zarei (32nd, 35th)
Mohammad Reza (38th, 39th)

IRAN 14 

Mohammad Hashemzader (5th) 
Hamid Shandizi (10th, 27th) 
Moitaba Moeeini (14th, 32nd) 
Ahmad Pari Azar (17th, 28th) 
Ali Sanei Arani (18th, 26th) 
Kazem Mohammadi (22nd) 
Mohsen Zarei (32nd, 35th) 
Mohammad Reza (38th, 39th) 


ENGLAND 1 

Richard Norris (21st) 


COMMENTS BY ENGLAND 
Graeme Dell – Head Coach 

“This is our first experience and we have a long way to go before we can make an impact in international competitions. In fact, we are a long way from a development programme in England and since futsal is not exactly a priority in England, it is going to take us some time. 

"But success does not come overnight, and we are prepared to go back and work on our game and develop the sport. However, we now know the benchmark in international futsal and it is up to us to prepare accordingly. 

"Iran have demonstrated why they are the best team in Asia, and probably one of the best teams in the world. 

"Hopefully when we introduce our futsal national league next year, we will be able to have a bigger base of players to choose from.” 


COMMENTS BY IRAN 
Mohd Hassan Ansarifar – Head Coach 

“We didn’t want to score too many goals as we were more concerned on the players playing the game according to our instructions. 

"Although we played and won by a big margin in last year’s friendlies, today was different as they were more defensive. 

"And since the last time we played, it was against their club side, we were not sure of their strengths. England also adopted a defensive approach and this made it difficult for us to score, especially in the first few minutes of the first half. 

"But having progressed to the next stage, we are confident of making it all the way to the final as well. We may meet Argentina or Japan in the next stage, but we are not worried. We believe we will still play in the final.”