AFC Futsal Club C'ship (3rd Place): Dabiri Tabriz 5-5 Shenzhen Nanling Tielang (7-6 pens)

A pair of stunning strikes from Shenzhen’s Brazilian Rubinho and a goal from Takashi Hatakeyama was answered by efforts from Babak Akbari, Farid Namazi and Mohammad Ghasemi of Tabriz to put the scores level at 3-3 at half-time.

Rubinho then completed his hat-trick in the second period, but Namazi’s second and a Farhad Fakhim strike had looked to put Tabriz in the driving seat until Zeng Liang’s equaliser four minutes from time.

But after Tabriz goalkeeper Alireza Samimi saved from Zeng having earlier also denied Kuang Xuanpu in a tense shootout, Koohestani held his nerve to claim victory for the Iranian side.

“I believe that today we found a new power in futsal in Asia in the form of China and Shenzhen,” said Tabriz coach Hossein Shams.

“Of course, I was worried in the penalty shootout because there’s not a lot a head coach can do, but Alireza Samimi is one of the best goalkeepers in Asia – maybe the best overall – and with those saves he showed Asia his quality.”

With Nagoya Oceans having ended Tabriz hopes and Chonburi Bluewave having beaten Shenzhen in the semi-finals, both sides showed attacking intent from the kick-off and it took a little over a minute before the game had its first goal.

Akbari drilled a pass down to Vahid Shafiei deep on the Shenzhen right-flank and the cushioned return found the onrushing Akbari who finished smartly past Wei Zheng.

Three minutes later, though, Rubinho had the leveler with a belting drive from the left-side that rocketed into the top-corner.

Rubinho turned provider for Shenzhen’s second as his ball into the penalty area was slid home by an alert Hatakeyama to put the home side in front on six minutes.

But with the Iranian champion pushing forward in numbers, an equaliser always looked likely and Namazi soon had his fourth of the tournament after he cleverly back-heeled Mortteza Ezzati’s through ball past an out-foxed Wei.

Roared on by the home supporters, Shenzhen went in front once again as Rubinho netted his second of the match with seven minutes of the half remaining. The powerful Brazilian dispossessed Shafiei and raced clear of the furiously back-tracking Tabriz defence before blasting past Samimi.

Once again, though, the Chinese club could not hold onto their lead as Behroz Jafari played the ball across the penalty area for Ghasemi to rifle home and put the scores at 3-3 before the interval.

A cagey opening spell to the second-half was broken open by goals for either side five minutes in as Rubinho completed his hat-trick with a thunderous free-kick from the edge of the penalty area, before Namazi matched the Brazilian’s efforts on the very next attack, flicking a loose ball past Wei for his fifth of the tournament.

And two minutes later, Hatakeyama paid the price for dwelling on the ball and was robbed for possession by a rampant Namazi who laid the ball on for the supporting Fakhim to slot into the bottom corner and give Tabriz the lead by the odd goal in nine.

Desperately seeking the tying goal, Shenzhen utilized the power play and with four minutes remaining the strategy bore fruit as extra outfielder Zeng ghosted in at the back post to ram the ball into the roof of the net to make the score 5-5 and take the tie to penalties.

Wei then saved Shafiei’s opening spot kick for Tabriz to hand Shenzhen the initiative, but Kuang was unable to take advantage and saw his weakly struck penalty saved by Samimi.

And after Samimi denied Zeng in sudden death, Koohestani held his nerve to beat Wei and claim victory for the home side.

"I’m extremely proud of the performance of the players, they played very well and forgot about the disappointment of yesterday’s semi-final,” said Shenzhen coach Jose Amarante.

“Despite showing our lack of experience in the game we can now say we are one of the best four Asian countries in futsal.

“Iran, Japan and Thailand may be ahead of us, but we’re coming now and this result shows that.”