Chonburi through after surviving late Shriker scare
Ho Chi Minh City: Bluewave Chonburi were made to fend off a late comeback by Shriker Osaka before rallying to a 4-2 victory to clinch their place in the semi-finals of the AFC Futsal Club Championship Vietnam 2017 on Thursday.
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Much was expected of this encounter between the two Asian giants. While Chonburi Bluewave clearly boast the superior track record, it was Shriker Osaka who created the game’s first chance when Sota Shibano forced an alert Katawut Hankampa to spring into action as early as the first minute.
It was only a matter of time before the Thais began to show their class with the twin terrors - Jirawat Sornwichian and Suphawut Thueanklang - combining well before the latter scuffed his shot at the decisive moment.
Rakphol Sainetgnam’s men then came close again after Apiwat Chaemcharoen connected masterfully with a well taken low-drive from Suttiroj Natthapon’s kick-in, only to be denied by custodian Toru Fukimbara’s outstretched left leg.
Chonburi then took the lead in the eighth minute; Rudimar Venancio doing well to cut-in from the left before dispatching a long-range effort which took a wicked deflection off Toru Sato, leaving a misfooted Fukimbara with no chance.
The Thai then doubled their lead two minutes later, after Chaemcharoen lofted a magical pass to find Suphawut, the forward taking the ball down with a sublime first touch, before guiding it past Fukimbara’s left post.
Without a moment of reprieve, Chonburi got their third a minute later, this time Kritsada Wongkaeo capitalising on a poor first touch by Fukimbara to tee-up Jirawat who only had to direct the ball into an empty net.
It was all one-way traffic in the opening minutes of the second half, as Shriker rallied towards finding a way back into the match, coming close after Sota Shibano found Nobuya Osodo with the time and space, but Hankampa did well to rush off his goalmouth early before palming away with a strong right hand.
Shriker's advances forward left them compromised at the back, paving the way for a Chonburi counter-attack which almost paid dividends when Suphawat found himself with only the keeper to beat but the AFC Futsal Championship Uzbekistan 2016 topscorer failed to keep his effort from sailing well over the bar.
With virtually nothing left to lose, the Japanese then activated the power play at the midway point of the second half, a move that paid-off three minutes later when Sota Shibano nutmegged Hankampa after long spell of exchanges in the Thai’s half.
A minute later, Shriker sent the Thais into panic after grabbing their second with Sato scoring with a fine finish from distance, setting up a nail-biting end to the final whistle. Despite their valiant efforts, the Japanese’ power play finally worked against them, when Venancio profited from Arthur De Oliveira’s error to pass the ball into an empty net.
Rakphol Sainetgnam (Chonburi Bluewave Head Coach)
“Overall, I am proud of my players. But in the last eight minutes, we were poor. We were not playing our normal game. Of course, we expected that Shriker would drive forward, and this is the nature of futsal but we needed to improve on finding our rhythym, especially when they scored the first goal. But I am satisfied with the result, and hopefully we will play better in the next two matches.”
Kenichiro Kogure (Shriker Osaka Head Coach)
“We made too many defensive mistakes today. I was shocked to see us go behind by three goals so quickly in the game. But there was improvement in the second-half so that is a positive. We are playing here for the first time. It was such a good experience to play against top teams like Chonburi and Giti Pasand. I am sad to leave the competition of course, but my immediate aim now is to beat Nagoya to the title once more so we can come back to compete at this level.”
Photos: AFC
Source: the-afc.com
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