Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Ashgabat: Islamic Republic of Iran were relentless in their Group D opening match against Tahiti, winning 16-1 and serving notice of their intent of adding a fifth crown in the Ashgabat 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games men's futsal on Monday.
The defending champions, who have won all four editions since futsal was first held in 2005, showed their attacking prowess, knocking in eight goals in each half.
Hat-tricks from Farhad Tavakoli (4th, 13th, 14th) and Ahmad Esmaeilpour (8th, 10th, 18th) and one each from Mahdi Javid (16th), Saeid Ahmad Abbasi (11th) gave IR Iran a 8-0 lead into the break.
Javid added three more in the second half - in the 27th, 30th and 37th minutes - to take his tally to four as IR Iran swept their opponents with further goals from Mohammad Shajari (31st, 33rd), Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh (34th), Hossein Tayebibidgoli (35th) and Hamid Ahmadidazaj 39th minute.
"It was a great honour to play against such a great team. It was tough to have them coming, coming and coming again at our team," said Tahiti goalkeeper Hiti Thierry Ariiotima.
Tahiti got their consolation through Jacob Tutavae in the 27th minute.
In another Group D match, Jordan were too strong for Kyrgyz Republic as they overwhelmed their opponents 7-1 in their opening match.
It only took three minutes for Ali Alkhazaleh to score first for Jordan as they took a 2-0 lead at halftime after Kyrgyz's Manas Abdrasul scored an own goal in the 7th minute. Qader Samara added two more (21st, 24th) after the break as Kyrgyz Republic pulled one back through Mirlan Zholdubaev in the 26th minute.
But Jordan stayed composed as they scored three more through Alkhazaleh (35th), Moham Arab Ahmed (36th), Mohamm Khaleel Baha in the final minute.
Jordan are second in the standings behind IR Iran who have a superior goal difference while Tahiti are bottom.
In Group C action, 2013 runners-up Japan showed their pedigree when they beat Lebanon 5-2 in their opening match.
Japan drew first blood through Koto Uematsu after 18 minutes of play but Lebanon hit back just a minute later through Ali Tneichi as both teams were level at the break.
It was the same scenario in the second period as Atsuya Uemura's goal in the 21st minute was cancelled out by Ahmad Kheir El Dine a minute later.
Lebanon's resistance finally broke as Japan found goals through Kiyoto Yagi (33rd), Kazuya Shimizu (34th) and Shota Horigome (36th) to put the match to bed.
"Our key, our strategy in that moment was to use a lot of players, with high intensity and high concentration.
"We changed in short time a lot of players, while Lebanon kept fewer players in their rotation so their physical condition went a bit down and we took advantage of it being faster and quicker," said Japan coach Bruno Jose Garcia Formoso.
In Group B, Akbar Kazemi and Hussein Khademi starred for Afghanstan as they strolled past Maldives 6-1.
Afghanistan who beat China with the similar scoreline in their opening match, took just a minute to get on the scoresheet through Khademi, and Mohammad Ali Fayazi 14th minute strike put them 2-0 up at halftime.
After the break, Afghanistan picked up where they left off with goals from Mohammad Reza Karimi in the 25th minute, Khademi (29th) and Kazemi (32nd, 35th).
Maldives scored their second goal of the tournament in the 38th minute through Ali Riswan Ahmed.
In another match, Uzbekistan beat UAE 5-1 in their Group B encounter. Playing in their first match of the tournament, Uzbekistan started strongly as they opened the scoring through Artur Yunusov in the 9th minute followed by their goalkeeper Davron Choriev also getting on the scoresheet in the 13th.
UAE however managed to pull one back with Hamad Ali Suliman Salem Alshamsi's effort finding the net in the 19th minute.
Uzbekistan shut the door on their opponents as they scored three more through Farkhod Abdumavlyanov (20th), Dilshod Rakhmatov (27th) and Konstantin Sviridov (34th) to finish off the tie.
Fresh from their 4-1 victory over Hong Kong in their Group A opener, Solomon Islands continue to impress as they held on to beat Chinese Taipei 4-3.
Both sides were evenly matched in the first half as the islanders scored as early as the first minute through George Martin Stevenson. Only for Chinese Taipei to hit back five minutes later through Lin Chih-Hung's effort.
Atana Junior Faarodo put Solomon Islands in front in the 14th minute but his effort was cancelled out by Chi Sheng-Fa in the 18th.
Solomon Islands added two more after the break with goals from Stevenson (24th) - his second in the match and Alvin Hou in the 33rd minute.
The islanders played a cagey game afterwards as their opponents fell short of levelling the scoreline, with Lin adding his second three minutes from time.
The win gives Solomon Islands a perfect record as they lead Group A, three points ahead of Turkmenistan - who beat Hong Kong 7-1 - and Chinese Taipei.
Turkmenistan's goals were scored by Serdar Rejepow (3rd, 25th), Watan Atayew (14th), Mülkaman Annagulyyew (22nd), Abdylla Gurbannepesow (26th) and Allamyrat Kurbanow (26th) while Hong Kong's consoltion through Liu Yik Shing in the 35th minute.
"If we beat Turkmenistan (on Tuesday) we will qualify for the quarter-finals, but I keep saying to you 'one match at a time.' Turkmenistan will be very tough. We will prepare well for it," said Solomon Islands coach Jerry Sam after their second victory in Group A.
Results
Group A
Sept 18
Solomon Islands 4-3 Chinese Taipei
Hong Kong 1-7 Turkmenistan
Sept 16
Chinese Taipei 2-1 Vietnam
Solomon Islands 4-1 Hong Kong
Group B
Sept 18
Maldives 1-6 Afghanistan
UAE 1-5 Uzbekistan
Sept 16
Afghanistan 6-1 China
Maldives 1-3 UAE
Group C
Sept 18
Japan 5-2 Lebanon
Group D
Sept 18
Iran 16-1 Tahiti
Kyrgyz Republic 1-7 Jordan
Source: asghabat2017.com