Iran hit six, Japan and Thailand reach world finals

Iran's Vahid Shamsaee (9) and Japan's Osamu Nambata battle for the ball. REUTERS Ahmad Moeni Jam

Iran, the only team to have won the competition since it was launched in 1999, continued their reign after overcoming Japan 5-3 in the final on Sunday. Although Kenichiro Kogure gave the Far East side the lead after just three minutes, the final proved to be a much more comfortable affair for the Iranians than last year’s contest. Then they needed two late goals to defeat Japan 6-4, but this time they reacted quickly to that negative blow by scoring five goals without reply through Mohammad Hashemzadeh (2), Kazem Mohammadi, captain Mohammad Reza Heidarian and tournament topscorer Vahid Shamsaee. Late strikes from Suzumura Takuya and Rikarudo Higa were little consolation for the brave Japanese outfit.

Impressed by the Persians, the crowd at the Pavilhao Polidesportivo stadium were left shaking their heads at the end, unsure whether to be more amazed by the fact that Iran had maintained their 100% record, 38 matches without defeat or draw or that Shamsaee had netted 33 goals in seven matches (4.7 goals per game). As it turned out, he was beaten to the tournament’s best player prize by team-mate Mohammad Reza Heidarian.

Road to Taipei
Iran will now head to Chinese Taipei full of confidence, looking to repeat or even better their last four finish the last time the world finals were staged in Asia 12 years ago at Hong Kong 92. They can expect to face much sterner tests than they did in Macau though. Drawn in Group A, they romped past Hong Kong 15-0, Indonesia 13-3, Cambodia 24-1, with Shamsaee scoring a hat-trick within three minutes, five goals in the first five minutes and ten goals in all with an amazing strike-rate of a goal every 150 seconds, and Uzbekistan 8-1. They then dispatched Kuwait 10-3 in the quarters and Thailand 6-1 in the semis before vanquishing Japan.

Japan continued the impressive form that has seen them reach the Asian final in the previous two editions. Drawn in Group C, they defeated hosts Macau 17-0, Philippines 12-0, Kyrgyzstan 4-1 and Lebanon 4-0, scoring 37 times and conceding a single goal. Relatively tight victories over China 5-2 in the quarter-finals and Uzbekistan 4-2 in the semis saw them safely on the road to Chinese Taipei.

South-east Asian champions Thailand too repeated their feats of previous tournaments, running out third for the third time in a row. Thanks to a Anucha Manjarem brace they came from behind to defeat Uzbekistan 3-1 in the crucial game to see who would go through to the world finals after waltzing past Lebanon 9-3 in the quarters. In between, Thailand could not live with Iran in the semis.

Emerging teams
While Iran, Japan and Thailand consolidated their status as Asia’s top three, some other nations emerged from the tournament with some pride. China, participating for only the third time, reached the quarter-finals thanks to a shocking 2-2 draw with Thailand and group victories over Malaysia 5-1 and Guam 27-1. They held Japan 2-2 well into the second half of their quarter-final contest before succumbing to experience at the death.

Runners-up in 2001, Uzbekistan took part in perhaps the most exciting match of the tournament. Trailing 4-1 to Korea Republic in the quarter-finals, they came back to win 6-5 and please the watching crowd.