Tabriz: Iraq recovered from an early deficit to open their AFC U-20 Futsal Championship IR Iran 2019 campaign with a hard-fought 5-2 win over Chinese Taipei at the Pour Sharifi Indoor Stadium on Friday.
The second edition of the AFC U-20 Championship kicked off in spectacular fashion, with both teams employing a high-tempo strategy, as Chinese Taipei matched 2017 runners-up Iraq’s intensity in the opening minutes.
Iraq’s Sabtain Abbas Al Challabi had the first chance of the game when he lost his marker on the right flank and let loose a shot that missed the upright by mere inches.
However, it was his opposite number, Huang Yu-Wei, who opened the scoring in the third minute with a swift strike from near the second penalty spot into the bottom right corner.
Iraq’s confidence remained high despite conceding early and they kept to their high-pressing play style that continuously tested Chinese Taipei goalkeeper Chen Wei-Chun.
Their equaliser came in the tenth minute when Yahya Asaad Al Mansoori dispossessed Huang in the Chinese Taipei half, and immediately sent the ball towards Yaselen Hussein Al Mohammedawi for the finishing touch.
Iraq kept up the pressure and were ahead just seconds later after Hussein Zamil Al Ghanim’s initial shot was body blocked by a Chinese Taipei player, only for Al Mohammedawi to convert the rebound.
Chang Chien-Ying’s side was slowly racking up fouls, and their reckless play cost them on 11 minutes after accumulating their sixth, as Ali Muwafaq Al Rubaye neatly converted from the second penalty spot to make it 3-1 for Iraq.
Little changed in the second half for either side, with Iraq looking to extend their lead while Chinese Taipei pushed back with equal intensity.
When in possession, Chinese Taipei played long passes around the Iraqi formation, and their quick passes made it difficult for the West Asians to react accordingly.
And in one such instance in the 28th minute, Sun Chi-Yuan pulled the Iraqi defenders’ attention, before passing to the unmarked Chen Ching-Hang, who made no mistake against goalkeeper Ghassan Dawood to narrow the gap.
In the 34th minute, a tussle for the ball at the half-line mark resulted in Hussein Abdulhakeem Amer surging down the middle, accompanied by Al Ghanim on the right in a two-on-one situation. Chen Wei-Chun had no chance as Al Ghanim etched his name on the scoresheet with a close-range strike.
With six minutes left on the clock, Chinese Taipei opted for power play with Fu Wei-Da coming onto the pitch, but it backfired in the 39th minute with Sajjad Haitham Al Khattawi shooting into an unguarded goalmouth to seal an opening day win.
Chinese Taipei head coach, Chang Chien-Ying
“We had quite a lot of chances this game. But the performance of our players wasn’t where it should be. So we should take this experience and improve in the next game. It will be a tough game against Indonesia, but we won’t give up. We will review that friendly match we had back in Chinese Taipei against Indonesia, and plan accordingly.”
Iraq head coach, Ali Talib Muhammad
“I would like to say the first game of the tournament is always difficult, but I think our players did exceptionally well. Futsal in Iraq is really strong, and we are one of the strongest teams in Asia. So our players really believe in themselves. As I said before, we will play each game like it’s the final, and our team showed that.”
Photos: AFC
Source: the-afc.com