Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Isfahan: Thai Son Nam booked their place in the quarter-finals of the 2015 AFC Futsal Club Championship on Saturday afternoon despite being held to a 3-3 draw by Bank of Beirut in their Group D meeting in Nagshe Jahan Stadium.
The draw, coupled with their win over Shenzhen Nanling Tielang on Friday, means the Vietnamese club cannot finish outside the top two places in their group and they will advance to Tuesday’s last eight.
Rudolpho Costa scored twice for Bank of Beirut in their opening game of the competition while Ahmad Kheir El Dine also found the back of the net as Tran Van Vu, Ngo Ngoc Son and an own goal from El Dine registered for Thai Son Nam.
“I’m very happy because yesterday my team played very well and they made a great effort and the two games have gone well,” said Thai Son Nam coach Bruno Garcia.
“The players followed the match plan and played a good game. To come back against them is good for us. It means we have qualified for the next round and maybe we have the chance to go into the next round in a good position, and that’s good for us.
“I believe in my team. This club has played two times in this competition and never won one game. And the groups had four teams in the last edition and we still never had a victory. Yesterday was our first victory and we made history for the country and now we have made history again and we will keep going.”
Da Costa gave Bank of Beirut the perfect start when he slammed his effort into the top corner after just 19 seconds, but Van Vu levelled for the Vietnamese, scoring at the second attempt after goalkeeper Hussain Hamadani blocked his initial effort.
On the stroke of half time, Thai Son Nam took the lead when Van Vu’s effort was deflected into his own goal by El Dine but, two minutes after the restart the scores were level again when Da Costa scored with another effort from outside the area in the 25th minute.
A rapid-fire break less than a minute later saw Ngoc Son race down the left before centring to Duong Anh Tung before coming back inside to finish off a fantastic move.
Bank of Beirut responded five minutes later when El Dine made amends for his own goal by netting the equaliser that ensures the Lebanese side go into their meeting with Shenzhen on Sunday needing only a draw to progress.
“I’m satisfied with how we played the game but I’m not satisified with the result,” said Bank of Beirut coach Dejan Dedovic.
“Yesterday their goalkeeper was the man of the match and today he saved maybe 40 balls on target and we shot 15 out of target. We had lots of possibilities to score, so I can say we were unlucky.
“We knew they would be tired and we tried to play our style and we played most of the time with our style. They played on the counterattack, but we conceded a few stupid goals and we were unlucky today.”