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Iran beats Thailand for record-extending 13th Asian futsal crown
Having stepped into the final showpiece on the back of shootout victory over Uzbekistan, Vahid Shamsaei’s men started right on the front in front of the capacity crowd at the Bangkok Arena, taking the lead in the first minute when Mahdi Amiri’s low drive found the bottom corner.
Iran, which endured some nervy moments against Bahrain and Uzbekistan earlier in the competition, was quick to double the advantage through Saeid Ahmad-Abbasi as the tournament’s top scorer bagged his eighth goal in the Thai capital with a sublime backheel effort in the sixth minute.
Thai skipper Jirawat Sornwichian gave his team a lifeline with a composed finish in the 26th minute, only to see his opposite number Ali-Asghar Hassanzadeh restore the two-goal cushion for Iran a
minute later.
With the host desperately chasing a second goal with powerplay, Iranian keeper Baqer Mohammadi made the most of opponent’s vulnerability in the back as his long-range effort from his own goal found the back of an empty net.
Earlier on Sunday, Uzbekistan came out on top in the shootout against Tajikistan in an all-Central Asian third-place contest, while Afghanistan made history on its Asian Cup debut by beating Kyrgyzstan 5-3 in the fifth-place playoff to join Iran, Thailand, Tajikistan, and host Uzbekistan in September’s Futsal
World Cup.