Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Nilai: Lebanon, Jordan, Qatar, and Iraq booked their places in the AFC Futsal Championship Uzbekistan 2016 as the curtain cam down on the West Zone qualifiers on Saturday.
Lebanon finished top of Group A with a 100% record following a 5-2 win over Saudi Arabia and will be joined in next year’s finals in Uzbekistan by neighbours Jordan, who picked up their second win of the campaign with a crucial 7-3 defeat of Bahrain.
Meanwhile, Qatar claimed their place in the continental championship after edging Iraq 2-1 to top three-team Group B ahead of the Iraqis, who advanced as runners-up thanks to their opening win over the UAE.
The top two teams from each group will join Japan, Iran, and Uzbekistan - the top three sides at the 2014 AFC Futsal Championship - and Kuwait, who finished fourth in Vietnam last year but qualified on account of hosts Uzbekistan receiving automatic qualification.
Lebanon’s earlier wins over Jordan (5-2) and Bahrain (6-2) sent them into their final Group A match secure in the knowledge that their six points was enough to guarantee at least a second-place finish. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, saw their chances of advancing as runners-up end when Jordan defeated Bahrain in the earlier match at the Nilai Indoor Stadium.
Hassan Zeitoun’s ninth-minute opener for Lebanon was cancelled out on the quarter-of-the-hour mark by Jwher Zafar Jmah as the two sides went into the interval on an even keel.
Mohammad Ossman and Ali Rmaiti both struck in the 28th minute as Lebanon took a 3-1 lead and while Abdulaziz Azmai Al Alouni pulled one back for the Gulf side, the Lebanese were quick to reassert their authority with Moustafa Serhan restoring the two-goal cushion un the 34th minute before Zeitoun sealed the win with his second and Lebanon’s fifth two minutes from the buzzer.
The Saudis had been playing only for pride after Jordan had assured themselves of a place in the finals with a 7-3 win over Bahrain, whose outside chances of second-place finish rested on them defeating the Hashemite Kingdom.
A third-minute goal from Jordan’s Mohammad Nadi Mohamm was the only scoring in a tight first half before the goals started to flow after the interval.
After a frenetic five-minute start to the second period it was 4-2 to Jordan, with the leaders scoring through a second from Mohamm (22nd) and goals from Ahmed Abdelalrhman Mohammad Arab (22nd) and Nooreddin Atef Ali (25th), while Abdulla Abbas Hassan (25th) was on target for Bahrain, who had Mohamed Radhi Al Sandi sent off in the 24th minute.
Abdulla Abbas Hassan further reduced the deficit in the 27th minute but three goals inside two minutes from Majdi Waleed Faiq (32nd), skipper Mohammad Abed Ali Alzoud (34th) and Yousef Abdallah Mahmoud (34th) put the Jordanians firmly in control.
Bahrain had the final say in the scoring stakes thanks to Mohamed Abdulrazaq Al Sharqawi’s goal with four minutes left to play but it was scant consolation for the Gulf Kingdom, who would ultimately end up bottom of the Group A standings on goal difference behind the Saudis.
Group B was more straightforward as second-half goals from naturalised Brazilian Lucas Oliviera (26th and 38th) either side of Salim Faisal Abed’s 35th minute effort saw Qatar defeat Iraq 2-1 to determine who finished first and second in the standings after both sides had beaten the UAE in their opening matches.