AFC FUTSAL CLUB C’SHIP 3RD/4TH: THAI SON NAM 7-3 NAFT AL WASAT

Nguyen Minh Tri and Tran Van Vu both scored twice for the South East Asian club with Tran Long Vu and Le Quoc Nam also registering while NAFT’s Mohammad Naser Safari found the back of the net at both ends. Waleed Khaled and Ali Abdulelah also scored for NAFT.

The third-place finish is the best result recorded by Thai Son Nam in their third participation in the tournament after a group stage exit in 2013 and a quarter-final slot last year.

Thai Son Nam took the lead with barely five seconds on the clock when Long Vu stole the ball from the Iraqi side straight from the kick-off before slipping the ball under goalkeeper Mohammed Noor to score.

Safari, however, levelled for NAFT in the seventh minute when he stormed clear before scoring from the edge of the area but, five minutes later, the Vietnamese were back in front with Minh Tri scoring when he was fed by Artur Yunusov.

An own goal by Safari – the ball crossing the line after it hit the Iranian on the side of the head – doubled Thai Son Nam’s lead and Duong Anh Tung could have added a fourth two minutes before the break, only for his shot to clip the right post.

The Vietnamese did manage to go further ahead three minutes into the second half when Minh Tri claimed his second of the game with a shot from the left, but NAFT responded instantly when Khaled slammed the ball into the top corner.

NAFT then reduced the deficit to a single goal in the 26th minute when Thai Son Nam goalkeeper Ngo Dinh Thuan was not able to hold Rafid Hameed’s shot from outside the area and Abdulelah made the most of his team’s power play to push the ball over the line from close range.

Van Vu restored Thai Son Nam’s two-goal lead a minute before Berzad Fereidoon’s sending off in the 30th minute for a second bookable offence gave Thai Son Nam the perfect opportunity to forge further ahead and, a little over halfway through the two-minute penalty period, Quoc Nam converted after Nguyen Bao Quan’s initial shot was blocked.

NAFT increasingly used the power play with Abdulelah on the field as time ticked down, but even with the additional outfield player the Iraqi club could not find a way past the resolute Vietnamese and Van Vu added a seventh with barely seconds remaining.