AFF FUTSAL: Malaysia, Indonesia edge closer to the semis

BANGKOK (21 April 2012) – Malaysia came alive after the break to hit four goals past the Philippines and hang on to the lead in Group A of the AFF Futsal Championship at the Bangkok Thonburi Stadium here today. Today’s hard-earned 4-1 win was Malaysia’s second after whipping Cambodia 8-0 yesterday.

Vietnam briefly took the group lead when they won their match against Myanmar this morning but had to relinquish it this evening when Malaysia also picked up full points. Both have six points each but Malaysia have a better average. With two more games to go, the two are best placed to advance to the semifinals.

In the first half the Malaysians had a number of shots at goal but were unable to make them count. The Filipinos had a brilliant chance to snatch the lead in the seventh minute when a defensive fumble saw a quick thinking Ahmad Fawzul Hadzir bring down skipper Misagh Medina Bahadoran just outside the semi-circle.

Misagh however failed to translate the freekick into a goal.

In the last four minutes of the first half, Ahmad Fawzul and Muhammad Fariq Mohammad both missed opportunities to score.

Malaysia emerged stronger after the break and before long were celebrating their first goal. Muizzudin Mohd Haris easily slipped the ball in after being set-up by Mohd Asmie in the 24th minute.

Just past the half hour mark, Zubaidee Alwee charged in from the left and rifled his shot past the goalkeeper. With six minutes to go, Qaiser Heshaam Abdul Kadir let loose a stiff shot that hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced across the goal line.

The Filipinos had several chances themselves but Misagh and Sajad Allan Aquino Khodarahmi failed to hit the target. But with time running out, Misagh managed to waltz through the Malaysian defence to score.  But any hopes of a late comeback were ended when Ahmad Fawzul placed it beyond goalkeeper Daryoush Rey Zandi.

In the last match of the third day of competition, Indonesia bagged their second win of the tournament with a convincing 9-2 defeat of Brunei tonight.

In the first half, Andri Kustiawan netted three goals while Syahidansyah Lubis scored twice with skipper Randhyas Syamsul Bahri slotting in the other.

After the break, Ismail scored twice while Randhyas scored another. Brunei replied with strikes from Faizul Jery Zaini and Noor Raimi Syahremy Karim.

With six points, Indonesia are tied with hosts Thailand but are second in the standings on a weaker goal average. Brunei are out after three losses and have one more match against Timor Leste to complete their group fixtures.

PIX: Philippines’ Misagh Bahadoran (all white kit) attempts to take a shot at the Malaysian goal as keeper Mohd Firdaus Razali (in blue/black kit) came off his line to defend

AFF FUTSAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2012 FIXTURES and RESULTS

Date	Match No.	Group	Match		Time	Venue	SCORE
19- Apr-12	1 2 3 4	A A B B	Cambodia vs Malaysia Myanmar vs Philippines Timor Leste vs  Indonesia Laos vs Brunei DS		1130 1400 1630 1900	Bangkok Thonburi Stadium	0 – 8 4 – 5 1 – 16 8 – 6
20- Apr-12	5 6 7 8	A A B B	Philippines vs Vietnam Myanmar vs Cambodia Brunei DS vs Thailand Laos vs Timor Leste		1130 1400 1700 1930	Bangkok Thonburi Stadium	1 – 6 7 – 6 0 – 22 4 – 3
21- Apr-12	9 10 11 12	A B A B	Vietnam vs Myanmar Thailand vs Laos Malaysia vs Philippines Indonesia vs Brunei DS		1130 1400 1630 1900	Bangkok Thonburi Stadium	3 – 0 26 – 2 4 – 1 9 – 2
22- Apr-12	13 14 15 16	A B A B	Myanmar vs Malaysia Timor Leste vs Thailand Cambodia vs Vietnam Laos vs Indonesia		1130 1400 1630 1900	Bangkok Thonburi Stadium
23- Apr-12	17 18 19 20	A A B B	Philippines vs Cambodia Malaysia vs Vietnam Indonesia vs Thailand Brunei DS vs Timor Leste		1130 1400 1630 1900	Bangkok Thonburi Stadium
24-Apr	Rest Day
25- Apr-12	21 22	SF1 SF2	Winner A     vs    Runner-up B Winner B     vs    Runner-up A	1400 1700		Bangkok Thonburi
26-Apr	Rest Day
27- Apr-12	23 24	3rd/4th Final	Loser SF1     vs      Loser SF2 Winner SF1   vs     Winner SF2	1400 1700		Bangkok Thonburi