Lebanon, Jordan advance to AFC Futsal Championship 2018 Finals
Bangkok: Lebanon secured a spot in the 2018 AFC Futsal Championship after beating Qatar 3-1 to be Group B winners, which also meant Jordan qualify as the second best team on Sunday.
Coming into the match, Qatar had a slim chance of a top two finish. Not only did they need a win, they had to do so with a three-goal margin to secure qualification.
With a mountain of goals to score against a Lebanon side who had defeated Jordan 3-1, Qatar struggled to keep up with Lebanon's constant attacks in the opening minutes.
It was a matter of time before Lebanon converted their dominance into goal and in the 16th minute, Hassan Zeitoun found an opening after side-stepping two defenders to score from outside the box.
Qatar had a hard time finding opportunities, especially as Lebanon never stopped pressing them whenever they had possession.
Their aim to win with a three goal lead was further dampened, when Serge Kouyoumjian capitalised on a bad pass from Qatar custodian Abdulrahman Mohsin, to reverse the tide and score in the 31st minute to make it 2-0.
With six minutes left, power play was the only option left and Saleh Taha stepped in as their fifth attacking member, finally pushing Lebanon into a defensive position.
But to everyone's suprise, Lebanon retaliated with a power play of their own, giving no leeway for Qatar.
Issa Khalifan Almasoudi would put Qatar on the scoreboard in the final minute, but Lebanon scored just seconds later with Zeitoun again finding the net.
Ahmed Rashid: Qatar Head Coach
“Our performance today was much better than yesterday. We focused on their weaknesses but didn't have much chances to score. This is Qatar’s new national team, and the players are young, but they are all equally talented as a team. This is just the beginning for us, and in the future, we will definitely take part in any other tournament and win.
Shahab Sofalmanesh
“When your team wins, it means your performance is of a high quality. But I’d like to say congratulations to Qatar for bringing such a strong team into the tournament. When we came in, we had two goals. One, to win both games, and two, to qualify, and we achieved it. This qualifiers was good for us because we wanted to find a good combination between our young and older players, and we succeeded. We will now focus on the 2018 Finals.”
Photos: Football Association of Thailand
Source: the-afc.com
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