AFF BEACH SOCCER: Grand Start for host Malaysia

KUANTAN (23 Oct 2014) – Hosts Malaysia made a grand start to the inaugural AFF-Felda Beach Soccer Championship when they beat Myanmar 6-3 in their first match of Group B that was played at the Teluk Chempedak here in Kuantan.

The Malaysians with the attendance of HRH Tengku Abdullah Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah, the president of the FA of Malaysia (FAM), were all eager at the start with numerous chances.

But it was Myanmar who grabbed the lead through Aung Soe Moe in the tenth minute before the hosts replied through Mohd Jamil Daud a minute later.

In the second quarter, Malaysia pushed forward for Mohamad Norazaman Jaafar to score in the third minute and Mohd Riduwan Mohd Nor in the 11^th minute as Myanmar hit back off Soe Moe in the ninth.

The Malaysians grabbed three more goals in the third quarter through Mohd Zaharim Mohd Yusof in the sixth minute, Mohd Fakhrullah Mohamad (8^th) and Mohd Khairil Nizam Mohamad (11^th).

“It was a good start but we still have some way to go to reach our target of making the semi-finals,” said Malaysian coach Wan Atremy Indra.

In the meantime, Indonesia and Thailand were also on the winning path with the former blasting Felda United 10-2 as Thailand then fend off a second half onslaught to win 4-3 over Vietnam.

The heroes for Indonesia were Made Agus Dwipayana with three goals as Wayan Metra Jaya, Dewa Kadek Dwipayudha and Made Antha Wijaya grabbing a brace each. The other two goals were scored by Wayan Arsa Bagia and Komang Kariana Antara.

The scorers for Felda were Ahmad Azrul Ahmad Rushidi and Muhammad Azmi Hamzah.

For Thailand, they were lucky to escape with the full point where after taking a two-goal lead off Pongsak Khongkaew in the fourth minute and Chattana (10^th) they allowed Vietnam to come up with their first goal with a minute remaining of the first quarter through Tran Vinh Phuong.

Two quick strikes at the start of the second quarter through Komkrit Nanan and Vitoon Tapinna put Thailand on confident mode at 4-1 in front. But this led to certain defensive complacency as Vietnam fought back in the third quarter off Bui Tran Tuan Anh and Le Ngoc Cuong.

In the last game of the day, Laos edged the Philippines 5-2.

“Not bad for a country with no beach,” exclaimed Laos coach Sysaveuy Saysanasy. “The lads played hard and this win gave us confidence for the next match.”

The scorers for Laos were Tona Bounmalay and Phithack Kongmatilath (two goals each) and another from Tu Mouakong Thao as the Philippines came back off Ali Mahmoud Ramos and Simpron Saludres.