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AFC - Iran has dethroned incumbent champion
Japan 4-1 at the Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium tonight to return the AFC
Futsal Championship trophy to the cabinet that has housed it for seven of
the past eight years.
Inspired by the outstanding Vahid Shamsaee, Iran was simply irresistible in
their quest to reclaim Asian futsal’s top prize throughout an absorbing
encounter between the unquestioned giants of the five-a-side game in Asia.
As they say; cometh the hour, cometh the man.
Today in Osaka, the hour was signalled by the first whistle of referee’s
Badrul Hisham Kalam and Mohammad Al Haddad and the man was Shamsaee.
The dominant player of Asian futsal since the dawn of the Championships in
1999, Shamsaee was at his best today – setting up two goals, scoring one and
treating the 5,289 spectators on hand to an exhibition of unparalleled
quality.
Shamsaee’s contribution to the scoresheet was the third of IR Iran’s goals
for the match, following on from Majid Latifi’s match opener and Mohammad
Taheri and Kazem Mohammadi Tirabadi’s second half strikes.
In response, an outclassed Japanese side could only contribute once –
Rikarudo Higa’s long range thunderbolt in the final minutes a mere
consolation for the hosts.
IR Iran’s triumph, their eighth from nine Championship attempts, sees Asian
futsal’s most sought after trophy return to what has become its spiritual
home, following a brief stint in Japan after last years edition in Tashkent.
“We were defending out of our own half and looking for spaces in behind the
Japanese players and were using Shamsaee to disrupt their defence and
separate their defence,” said delighted Iran coach Hossein Shams after
match.
“I believe that whatever Iran has done in Asian futsal, Japan has followed
closely behind.
“Japan has made very good progress and when we both qualify for the 2008
FIFA Futsal World Championships in Brazil, I believe that Iran and Japan
will perform much stronger than what we have previously and could quite
easily qualify for the quarter finals.”
There was to be no respite to begin this most anticipated of matches.
Japan captain Kenta Fujii’s effort on goal after just five seconds
exemplified the tone of an enthralling half where the all-star cast of Asian
futsal were on show – and delivering on their promise of high quality sports
entertainment.
Japanese lynchpin Kenichiro Kogure was at his inventive best, while fellow
Spanish based players Takuya Suzumura and Daisuke Ono were heavily involved
from the opening whistle.
At the other end, Shamsaee was dictating play with solid support from
elegant captain Mohammad Reza Heidarain and exceptional 24-year-old defender
Mohammad Keshavarz Nasrabadi.
While some of the head to head match ups were breathtaking, it was a half
short on goals.
Short on goals, yes.
Short on quality, certainly not.
For every chance one team would create, the other would respond almost
immediately.
In the third minute, Shamsaee beat Suzumura on the edge of the goal circle
and forced a spectacular save from Japanese custodian Hisamitsu Kawahara.
Seconds later, Kogure oozed class when firing a shot from close range after
bringing down a long ball from his defence.
After 15 minutes, Iran had the goal they had been threatening to produce –
Latifi the scorer.
The 26-year-old received a pinpoint diagonal pass from Shamsaee to slide a
powerful close range effort past a hopelessly exposed Kawahara at the near
post.
Taking Latifi’s goal into the break, Iran accelerated their charge in the
second stanza, with Shamsaee again instrumental.
Six minutes into the half, Taheri turned in Kawahara’s parry from one of
several Shamsaee blasts at goal, capitalising on an explosive pace
introduced by Iran from the beginning of the second period.
Almost immediately, Japan coach Sapo played his most candid card –
introducing Higa at the expense of Kawahara to provide the hosts with five
attacking outlets when in possession.
Almost as immediately, Iran benefited from the lack of presence in the
Japanese goal.
On 31 minutes, Shamsaee dispossessed Fujii from within his own half and
fired a low shot from some thirty metres.
In such rare form, there was no doubting Shamsaee’s shot was goal bound, and
after a tense few seconds, Iran were celebrating a three-goal lead with less
than ten minutes to play.
Coach Hossein’s over zealous celebration earned him an expulsion from the
field of play, but such cacophony was soon forgotten when Mohammadi Tirabadi
netted IR Iran’s fourth – another sucker punch strike in accordance with
Shamsaee’s of six minutes earlier, only this time from all of 35 metres.
Higa’s response in the coming seconds lifted the spirits of the partisan
home crowd, but ultimately, by this point the match was won and lost and
Iran was safely able to make plans for transporting their reclaimed crown
back home.
“I would like to congratulate my players, they did their very best to the
very end,” said Sapo.
“The first half, I thought the game was going quite well, but, unfortunately
we conceded a goal.
“We had chances of our own to score, we tried a lot of power plays in the
second half but it didn’t work out for us.
“It has been a very tough tournament; I would like to congratulate the Iran
team from the bottom of my heart.”
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