Clinical Nafit Al-Wasat seal top spot
Ho Chi Minh City: Iraq’s Nafit Al Wasat secured top spot in Group B after defeating Qatar side Al Rayyan 4-2 in the AFC Futsal Club Championship Vietnam 2017 on Tuesday.
With the top spot in Group B at stake, the stage was set for an explosive final group match of the competition between two powerhouses who had already sealed their last eight spots.
The standings prior to the match were in favour of Nafit Al Wasat, who were clearly more clinical and their superiority was apparent after the Iraqi side snatched two goals inside the first minute.
With just 25 seconds gone, Farhad Tavakoli made a lightning sprint past Amro Mohssein before cutting back for Waleed Khalid to slot home after his initial attempt rebounded off custodian Abdulrahman Mohsin.
Taking barely a moment to breath, Tavakoli was at his menacing best once again, this time driving a low right-footed effort from Ghodrat Bahadori’s kick-in.
The Iraqis continued to showcase their class, holding possession for long spells to deny Al Rayyan the opportunity to carve out decisive openings.
Nafit came close to increasing their lead in the 13th minute, with the trio of Tavakoli, Bahadori and Khalid at the heart of another fine move only for Khalid to fortuitously deflect Tavakoli’s goal-bound effort away from the goalmouth.
Al Rayyan finally found their footing, piecing together some neat interchanges before Amro Mohssein found Mohammad Taheri but the latter’s low-drive drew a fine save from Mohammed Noor.
The second half saw Nafit’s dominance continue as the Al Rayyan defence was made to repel incessant questions, Bahadori coming close inside four minutes with a thunderous effort, which produced a finger-tip save from Mohsin.
Al Rayyan then pulled one back, against the run of play it must be said, when Mohssein did brilliantly to draw away the Nafit defence before dispatching a cross-shot which fell neatly onto the path of Hazem Samy who was left with a simple finish.
Samy’s goal breathed new life into the match, instilling in Al Rayyan a renewed sense of belief as they surged forward determined to find the equaliser, with Taheri coming close in the 32nd minute but the Iranian was denied by an alert Noor.
Taheri would prove the difference though as four minutes later, he reacted quickly to Bahadori's mistake and waltzed past Hameed before letting fly a roaring effort, this time leaving Noor with no chance.
Just when it seemed the tie was headed for a stalemate, Bahadori issued a double quick-fire - first capitalising from a defensive error from Al Rayyan to squeeze his shot between two defenders and adding another moments later after dispossessing Samy to round off with a precise finish.
Nafit Al-Wasat’s victory sets up a classic quarter-final with home side Thai Son Nam while Al Dhafrah will now prepare to take on Al Rayyan in the last eight with both matches on Thursday.
Haitham Abbas Bawei (NAFIT Al-Wasat Head Coach)
"It was a good performance by our players. Everyone played well. We defended well for the most parts and despite the late goals, we showed that we were always in command. Of course, it is expected that we have our minds on the match against the Vietnamese team, but credit to my players for keeping their focus."
Carlos Cesar Gago (Al Rayyan Head Coach)
"Today’s result was not important; the most important was the performance. It was a good match for us to get good practice against one of the best teams in Asia to help prepare for Al Dhafrah. Nafit are an excellent team, we could see today, it is almost as if they can score when they want to. But I am happy we were able to match them in parts."
Photos: AFC
Source: the-afc.com
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