AFC Futsal Club Championship: And then there were four….

Semi-final Fixtures (July 21,2016)

Dibba Al Hissin SCC v Nagoya Oceans

United Arab Emirates outfit Dibba Al Hissin reached the last four after finishing second in Group C and then beating Vietnam’s Sanna Khanh Hoa 6-2 in the quarter-finals – a game which saw goalkeeper Hassan Ali score an audacious length-of-the-pitch goal . Dibba recorded two draws in the Group Stage to progress and become the first side from the UAE to qualify for the knockout phase. Up against Mohamed Al-Marzouqi’s charges will be two-time champions Nagoya Oceans. The Japanese side sensationally knocked 2015 winners Tasisat Daryaei out of the quarter-finals thanks to a 3-2 penalty shootout following a dramatic 2-2 draw. During the group phase, Nagoya edged Vic Vipers on goal difference to finish second on Group A. With their collective tails clearly up, a new legion of talented players will be hoping to add to Nagoya’s 2011 and 2014 AFC Futsal Club Championship titles. This semi-final is scheduled to kick-off at 1600 local time.

NAFIT Al- Wasat v Chonburi Bluewave

Iraq’s NAFIT Al-Wasat - after finishing top of Group C thanks to a win and a draw - booked their semi-final ticket thanks to an enthralling yet narrow 2-1 quarter-final win over Qatar’s Al-Sadd. NAFIT are no strangers to this stage of the competition as they had a debut tournament to remember at the 2015 AFC Futsal Club Championship where they reached the last four, only to be beaten 7-3 by eventual champions Tasisat Daryaei. Standing in NAFIT’s way is the formidable presence of host club Chonburi Bluewave who, watched by a record tournament attendance of 10,600, beat Uzbekistan’s Almalyk FC 4-1 in the last round. Chonburi secured two wins out of two in the Group Stage to finish top of Group A before disposing of Almalyk. The Thai giants won the AFC Futsal Club Championship in 2013 and were runners-up a year later. This semi-final is scheduled to kick-off at 1900 local time.