Iran edges out Afghanistan in futsal friendly
Iran held off a second-half fightback by Afghanistan to win 4-3 at the friendly futsal tournament in Curitiba, Brazil.
Hossein Tayyebi put Iran in front with three minutes into the contest, before Moslem Oladqobad doubled the lead for the Asian powerhouse two minutes later.
Abolfazl Afzali extended the lead for Iran in the 15th minute, only to see Akbar Kazemi reduce the deficit to two seconds later as it finished 3-1 in the first half.
Vahid Shamsaei’s men again started on the front foot after the break and bagged a fourth goal through Mahdi Karimi in the early stages of the second period.
Afghan keeper Javad Safari produced some fine saves to deny Iran a fifth goal, while Afghanistan had a couple chances on the counter-attacks.
Kazemi again found the net for Afghanistan with a sublime lob, but was shown his marching orders after his foul denied Iran a clear goal opportunity.
Afghanistan still managed to find a third goal when Iran’s Ali Akrami was dispossessed by Hossein Mohammadi, who tackled the ball into the back of the net.
This was a third outing for Iran in Brazil, after a 5-2 loss to the host was followed by a 11-2 demolishing of Greenland on Friday.
Iran will have the chance to avenge the first-day defeat against the reigning world champion when the two sides square off in the final showpiece of the event today.