Khanh Hoa win second match, enter AFF champ’s quarters
Vietnam’s Sanna Khanh Hoa advanced to the quarter-finals of the Asian Football Confederation Futsal Club thanks to Nguyen Quoc Bao’s late goal, ensuring the team’s 3-2 victory over Al-Sadd of Qatar on July 17 in Bangkok, Thailand.
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The second win boosted Sanna Khanh Hoa to become the leader of Group D with six points, and will see Dibba Al Hissin SCC of the United Arab Emirates in the knock-out stage on July 18.
Meanwhile, Tran Van Thanh drilled a fine shot past goalkeeper Ali Ibrahim to score the opener at the sixth minute for Sanna Khanh Hoa, though it was quickly forgotten when Abdullah Salem netted to level for the other side.
The Vietnamese club hit back immediately through Phan Khac Chi, and went into the interval one goal up.
Al-Sadd dominated the second-half possession, but rarely threatened to equalise until captain Mohamed Ismail popped up with two minutes remaining, only for Bao to win with a minute to go, as the Qataris had to settle for the runner-up qualification berth.
“I think we played well today, from our mentality to the technical and tactical plan. We created a lot of opportunities and we deserved to win,” said coach Dang Dinh Khang of Sanna Khanh Hoa.
“I’m satisfied with my players, who showed off our team spirit and strictly played as we have discussed. I told them to make their best efforts – every match is a final for us and we deserve this position," he said.
On the other side, coach Paulo Fernandes of Al Sadd congratulated Sanna Khanh Hoa on their win. He said the better team played very well, while his players were slow in the first half. The second half was better for them, but it was not enough to win back the game, since Sanna Khanh Hoa remained strong.
Al-Sadd will meet Nafit Al- Wasat of Iraq, who topped group C in the quarter-finals.
In other futsal news, Thai Son Nam of Vietnam won a silver medal at the ASEAN Football Federation Futsal Club Championship, which closed on July 16 in Myanmar.
Thai Son Nam lost 3-4 to defending champion Thai Port FC of Thailand, in a match they led 2-0 within nine minutes of the beginning.
However, the inexperienced team failed to maintain their advantage, as the Thai players quickly equalized the result, before going ahead with two more goals.
Thai Son Nam tried hard and added another goal, but it came at the end of the tournament.
Additionally, MIC FC of the hosts defeated Black Steel from Indonesia 6-5 to take third place.
On the women’s side, Thai Son Nam District 8 beat Bangkok FC 3-2 to win a bronze medal.
