Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Shah Alam: Kuwaiti representatives Al Salmiya pulled a stunning come-from-behind 5-3 win over Dordoi FC of Kyrgyzstan to qualify for the Zone 1 semi-finals of the AFC Futsal Club Championship 2013 Qualifiers played on Saturday at the Panasonic Sports Complex.
With Dordoi losing their first match against Al Sadd in a group of three teams, another loss forced them out of the competition leaving Sunday’s Salmiya tie with Al Sadd a battle for finishing in the first position of Group B.
Dordoi had a brilliant spell early in the match and were in complete control after notching a couple of goals within the same minute.
Salmiya goalkeeper Faisal Ghareeb was the culprit behind Dordoi’s first goal as the goalie fumbled while collecting a drive from Chingiz China and the ball landed at the back of the net in the 5th minute.
The Central Asians doubled their lead on the same minute after a good work on the right from goalscorer China who released an acute pass to Sherzod Jumaev for a simple tap-in.
Like how Dordoi dominated in the first five minutes, the last five minutes of the match belonged to Al Salmiya as they scored two goals in the space of less than two minutes to go at the break with honours even.
Dordoi goalie Yura Ryzhenko was wrong-footed allowing Hamzah Muhammad’s long-range effort to travel inside the net in the 18th minute. One minute later, Hamzah was again in action as unmarked Abdul Rahman Alwadi tapped in his freekick to bring the score to 2-2.
In one of the memorable comeback in Asian futsal, Salmiya took the lead for the first time in the match after Naser Alqalaf connected a shot past Dordoi goalie Ryzhenko off Salem Almekaimi release.
Salmiya virtually ensured their win after a clever finishing by Brazilian Sidnei Mauricio who, after finding goalkeeper Ryzhenko out of his position, connected an accurate shot from Salmiya territory to make it 4-2 when the Kuwaitis were playing with a man less following a quick succession of yellow cards to Alwadi.
“It’s very pleasing for the coach to see your team giving up everything they have despite being 2-0 behind,” ecstatic Salmiya coach Paulo Cesar told www.the-afc.com.
“They played by the heart and passion which I liked the most. Now we are already through the semi-finals so we can straight away concentrate on the big occasion,” added the Brazilian.
<strong slick-uniqueid="715">Goals**| Al Salmiya | **Dordoi FC ** |
| Hamzah Muhammad 17', 35' | Chingiz China 3' |
| Abdulrahman Alwadi 18' | Sherzod Jumaev 4', 36' |
|
Naser Alqalaf 24' Sidnei Mauricio 34' |