Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Ho Chi Minh City: Iran and Australia qualified for the quarter-finals of the AFC Futsal Championship from Group B after the 10-time champions eased to a 12-0 win over China at Ton Duc Thang University Stadium on Friday.
Hossein Tayebi scored four and Asghar Hassanzadeh scored a hat-trick, while a brace from Vahid Shafiei and further goals from Farhad Tavakoli, Farhad Fakhim and Hamid Ahmadi completed the one-sided win as Iran followed up Wednesday’s 5-1 victory over Indonesia.
And with 2012 semi-finalists Australia earlier beating Indonesia 5-0 to maintain their own 100% record, the pair will now meet on Sunday with top spot in Group B at stake after completing the qualification picture with a game to spare.
“I am happy because the players made me happy. Not because of the result, but because of the attitude of the players,” said Iran coach Jesus Candelas.
“We played with concentration and tried hard to score goals. Against Indonesia we didn’t score many goals, but Indonesia had a different strategy to China. Indonesia didn’t want to play; they just wanted to wait for us. But China wanted to play and tried hard.”
Iran flew out of the blocks and opened the scoring after just 15 seconds as Hassanzadeh followed up after China goalkeeper Li Kai had saved with his legs.
And the lead was doubled with less than a minute on the clock as Tayebi netted from range before Hassanzadeh turned home from Alireza Vafaei’s pass to extend the advantage with barely 90 seconds played.
China were able to regroup, but Tavakoli eventually took the lead to four in the fifth minute before Shafiei struck Iran’s fifth midway through the first half.
And just under nine minutes before half-time, Tayebi also got his name on the scoresheet for a second time with a shot from outside of the penalty area.
Iran were unable to duplicate their explosive start from the first half, although they did eventually add a seventh of the contest just over four minutes after the restart through Fakhim.
Hassanzadeh completed his hat-trick a minute later by rounding off an eye-catching team move, with Vafaei again providing the assist.
And Tayebi followed suit two minutes later as he spun China captain Lu Yue just outside the penalty area before dispatching a fierce shot high past substitute goalkeeper Zhu Bei.
Lu was again at fault a minute later as the China captain conceded possession to Ahmad Esmaeilpour, who squared the ball for Shafiei for a simple tap-in to bring up double figures.
China withdrew goalkeeper Zhu in place of outfield player Zhao Liang with just under seven minutes remaining in an attempt to inspire a turnaround in fortunes, although the move soon backfired as Tayebi found the empty net from inside his own half a minute later.
And with Zhu again off the field, Ahmadi netted a virtual carbon copy with seconds remaining to seal the win.
“The level of the two teams is so different. We didn’t want to lose by such a high score, but we are preparing for the future as 80% of these players are aged 22 or 23 and they are playing for the first time against one of the best teams in the world and this is normal,” said China coach Andre Lima.
“I didn’t think we would lose by so many goals, but after the way we started, we knew it would be difficult for our young players.”