HO CHIN MINH (27 Oct 2017) – Defending champs Thailand and Malaysia advanced to the AFF HDBank Futsal Championship semi-finals and in the process secured their places in the Asian Futsal Championships next year.
Thailand, the 12-time winners of this tournament, whipped Timor Leste 17-2 while Malaysia out-played Laos 6-3 at the Phu Tho Indoor Stadium this afternoon.
“It was another serious performance from the players and even though we relaxed a little bit in the second half, still it was another good win.” said Jose Mendez.
“We have achieved our target of making the AFC tournament and that’s important. Now we will have to look at the big game (against Malaysia) tomorrow).”
For Thailand and Malaysia, today’s victories were their second, and enough to assure them spots in the last four.
The two teams will battle tomorrow at noon to decide who tops Group B. For Laos and Timor Leste, today’s results were their second successive defeats.
In the second Group B match of the day, Thailand were simply no match for their opponents who put up a brave fight throughout. With their exceptional skills and speed, the Thais ran rings around their rivals and walked off at the break with a 12-2 lead. Led by hitmen, Muhammad Osamanmusa, the Thais did not have problems getting their shots in.
After the break, the Thais appeared to ease up, and managed to slot in five more goals. Their top poacher today was Osamanmusa who helped himself to five goals (14th, 15th, 29th, 30th and 39th) while skipper Jetsada Chudech and Peerapol Satsue were on target thrice each.
The other Thais on the scorers list today were Sorasak Phoonjungreed (6th, 16th), Chaivat Jamgrajang, Panut Kittipanuwong and Weerasak Srichai. Bruno Gomes scored a brace while teammate Andre Vong netted an own goal in the fifth minutue.
In the earlier match today, Malaysia ensured their place in the semis after a hard-fought battle against a spirited Laos side. The Malaysians struck early with a second minute strike from Mohd Khairul Effendy.
They added two more in the 10th minute through Khairul and Akmarulnizam Mohd Idris. By the 12th minute, the Malaysians were comfortably leading 4-0 when Muhammad Azri Rahman’s shot found the back of the net. Five minutes from the break, Laos replied with a superb effort from Soulichanh Phasawaeng.
After the break, Laos came on strong and charged at their opponents. Laos needed a good score to remain in the running. This was after their opening loss to Thailand yesterday. And to their credit the Laos players put on a decent fight. However, it was Malaysia who stormed further ahead, with Khairul completing his hattrick in the 27th minute.
Laos were not ready to give up and blasted a second in the 30th minute, again from Soulichanh, and a smashing third from Nidnilanh Chanchaleune in the 38th minute. Any hopes of a late comeback fizzled out when Azri popped in a sixth a minute from time.
Meanwhile, Vietnam will open its campaign here with a tie against the Philippines later tonight while Indonesia faces Brunei in another Group A encounter.
“I am not too concerned who we will play against in the semi-finals,” said Malaysian head coach Chiew Chun Yong. “I am more inclined to look at my players and how we will prepare against Thailand tomorrow.”
RESULTS
Today
Group B: Malaysia bt Laos 6-3, Thailand bt Timor Leste 17-2
Group A: Philippines vs Vietnam, Indonesia vs Brunei
Oct 26
Group A: Myanmar bt Brunei 13-0, Indonesia bt Philippines 21-0
Group B: Thailand bt Laos 14-0, Malaysia bt Timor Leste 7-2
TOMORROW’S FIXTURES
Group A: Vietnam vs Indonesia, Myanmar vs Philippines
Group B: Thailand vs Malaysia, Timor Leste vs Laos
