HO CHI MINH CITY: Iran’s fading dream of a consecutive seventh Asian futsal title was rekindled on Tuesday after archrivals Japan did them a favour by defeating Thailand 4-2, following Team Melli’s earlier 10-3 demolition of China in the AFC Futsal Championship. Iran went into their match against the Chinese gunning for a big victory which alone, however, wouldn’t have been enough. To stay alive in the tournament, Iran needed the Japanese to beat ASEAN futsal champions Thailand in the other group encounter.

Only two teams advance from the two groups to the semi-final stage of the tournament and had Japan drawn with Thailand both would have gone into the last four, leaving Iran out.

Today’s win against China, however, hauled Iran to four points - equal with the Thais – and their massive victory margin enabled them to squeeze through to the semi-finals on superior goal difference.

Iran went on the offensive against China at the Phu Tho Stadium from the start, keen to score as many goals as possible. Mohsen Zarei’s hat-trick (third, seventh and 15th minutes) and braces from Hossein Soltani (12th, 40th minutes) and Vahid Shamsaee (20th, 24th minutes) were instrumental in increasing the Iranians’ goal tally. Also among the contributors were Seyedamin Hashemian (13th minute), Mohammad Hashemzadeh (29th minute) and Mohammad Reza Heidarian (22nd minute). China managed to reduce the deficit through Zhang Jiong (22nd minute), Li Jian (35th minute) and Yan Fei (40th minute). “We changed our strategy in this match,” said Iran coach Jurandir Azeredo. “We had a plan for our opponents. We don’t think we were lucky today as all our players performed well.” In their match at the Army Zone Stadium, three-time finalists Japan never allowed Thailand to find their rhythm and went into the break 2-0 ahead. Suzumura Takuya opened the scoring in the first minute and Kogure Kenichiro doubled the advantage four minutes from the break.

But Thailand equalised 2-2 in the second period with goals from Panuwat Janta (35th minute) and Anucha Manjaren (40th minute).

With the score tied, Ono Daisuke and Kenichiro fired two quick goals in the last minute of furious action to give the Japanese victory. “We used the same power and energy as in the previous matches,” said Japan coach Sapo. “We won because we tried our best.” “We have won three matches now but if we don’t win the championship all our efforts will come to nought,” added the coach. “So we have to win the title this time.” Japan finished on top of the group with nine points. Both Iran and Thailand collected four points each, but the former finished ahead on goal difference, while China were last with no points. Iran will clash against Uzbekistan while Japan will play Kyrgyzstan in the semi-finals on Thursday. Iran’s Shamsaee is leading the list of goalscorers with 20 goals while Kenichiro is one behind as the tournament enters the knockout stage.