THAILAND TO TAKE ON JAPAN IN LAST EIGHT

The recently crowned Asean Futsal kings was never really in the game throughout when they fell 1-0 at the break through Abdulla Buriev’s strike in the 8th minute before Abdulla scored the second goal in the 28th minute.

Two minutes later, Uzbekistan made it 3-0 when Hurshid Tajibiev nailed the third goal for the central Asian side.

Thailand attempted to stage a comeback after that and they did found the net twice through captain Panuwat Janta (30th minute) and Ekapong Suratsawang just a minute to the end.

But by that time, it was already too late as Uzbekistan completed their fixtures at the top of Group B while Thailand takes the runners-up spot.

“Today I’m happy because the game was a tough one, I enjoyed it because both teams played a tight game,” said Thailand coach Pattaya Piemkum afterwards.

“It was a good experience for my team to play Uzbekistan ahead of the quarter finals.”

IN THE MEANTIME, the other two Asean representatives at the AFC Futsal Championship 2007 bow out of the competition with Malaysia conceding their third loss in Group D with a 2-9 defeat to Lebanon while the Philippines fell to China 3-2 in Group A.

With the score at 4-2 at the end of the first half, Malaysia did not really have a fighting chance to score at least a point in the tournament which was played at the Amagazaki City Park Gymnasium.

Malaysia’s goals were scored by Mohammed Fadzil Abdul Karnim (11th minute) and Mohamad Feroz Abdul Karnim (17th minute) as Lebanon scored five more goals after the breather for the final scoreline.

The Philippines on the other hand was behind as early as the first minute through
Sheung Kwai So before Keung So added the second in the 8th minute.

The Philippines pulled a goal back through Peyman Nejadsafavi (32nd minute) before Hong Kong maintained their two-goal advantage through Kwan Yee Lo low shot several seconds later.

And even though Philippines did score a second goal through Nejadsafavi in the 33rd minute, the inevitable had already happened.

“We dominated the game but the ball just wouldn’t go in. It’s our pleasure to play in the tournament and a good learning experience for our players,” said Philippines coach Esmail Sedigh.

THAILAND (red) against UZBEKISTAN (white)