Ho Chi Minh City: Diego Costa clinched a last minute winner to secure Al-Rayyan a thrilling 2-1 victory over Indonesia’s Vamos FC in their Group B opener in the AFC Futsal Club Championship Vietnam 2017 in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday.
They may be the first futsal club to represent Indonesia alongside Asia’s elite, but Vamos FC showed no signs of inexperience in the opening minutes. Defying expectations, the Southeast Asian side displayed confidence well beyond expectations, as they took the game to the Qataris.
It took Al-Rayyan a nervy seven minutes to finally break the deadlock through Brazilian import Costa, who pounced on a defensive error by Tricahyo Ramadhan with a well-placed finish in the bottom right corner.
The Qataris almost doubled their lead in the12th minute, with Costa again coming close when he drove a thunderous left foot which beat goalkeeper Muhamad Nazil Purnama, but was denied by the left post.
Vamos FC nearly equalised five minutesbefore the break, stringing together neat passes with grace and fluidity, but Dutchman Said Bouzambou failed to keep his composure at the decisive moment following a neat tuck forward by Mochammad Iqbal Rahmattulah.
In the dying seconds of the first half, Al Rayyan came close again, launching a swift counter-attack from an Indonesian corner but Hazem Samy's shot lacked power to direct his effort with any real purpose.
Al Rayyan came out storming in the second half in search of a second goal and Flavio Barreto Arantes got on the end of a lightning counter, but Purnama produced a strong save to keep his side in the game.
In a match of near misses, it was Vamos FC’s turn to come close only for Bambang Bayu Saptaji to smash his effort against the right post after receiving a lovely pass from Mochammad Iqbal Rahmattulah.
The Indonesian side came agonisingly close yet again in the 37th minute, after Syahidansyah Lubis’ exquisite flick was accompanied by a quick turn and volley, forcing an acrobatic save from Al-Rayyan goalkeeper Ali Ibrahim.
With three minutes on the clock, the Indonesians took a gamble by deploying five outfield players – a move that paid enormous dividends two minutes later as Bayu Saptaji turned on his marker before toe-poking the ball past Ibrahim’s near post.
Just when it seemed the Indonesians were good value for a historic point, Al-Rayyan responded by deploying the same tactic and were rewarded with a last-gasp winner with 32.8 seconds left on the clock courtesy of Costa who powered a low drive to end Vamos FC’s hopes of a dream start.
Reza Fallahzadeh (FC Vamos Head Coach)
"To lose with 30 seconds remaining was very upsetting, but I am happy with the attitude of my players. We are a young team, compared to Al-Rayyan who have many older, more experienced players than us. We need to regroup, refocus and hopefully bounce back with a better result in the next match."
Carlos Cesar Gago (Al-Rayyan Head Coach)
"We had a number of chances to finish the game earlier but we failed to take them. The longer the game went on, every minute, we became more nervous. But in the end, I am very proud and pleased with my players. They are very brave. Vamos are a good side. If they can improve on their attacking and physique, they can be a real top team in Asia."
Photos: AFC
Source: the-afc.com