Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Bangkok: Coach Pedro Costa hailed his “fantastic” Nagoya Oceans players after the Japanese side won a record third AFC Futsal Club Championship on Saturday with a 6-5 penalty shootout victory over Iraq’s NAFIT Al-Wasat after a thrilling 4-4 draw.
Costa’s side scored dramatic late goals in normal time and extra time at Bangkok Arena to eventually take the tie to penalties, before goalkeeper Yushi Sekiguchi proved the hero by scoring from the spot then saving Saif Abdulmalek’s decisive penalty to win the tie for Nagoya.
The victory means Nagoya have now claimed the continental competition on three occasions – two more than anyone else – as they added to the titles won in 2011 and 2014.
WATCH THE AFC FUTSAL CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL HIGHLIGHTS HERE
“I’m very proud, I don’t have words to describe how I’m feeling,” said the Portuguese coach, whose side won just one game in normal time in the tournament.
“The players were fantastic and we deserved the win – we were the only team that tried to get the victory from the first minute to the last.
“It’s because of things like this that we work day after day. We worked yesterday to put everything in the right position, and today we saw on the pitch what we worked on.
“In all the games I’ve said it’s not just about the first five minutes or the last five minutes. I have learnt the Japanese spirit from the guys – we never surrender.”
Tomoki Yoshikawa and Koichi Saito each scored first-half goals, but Nagoya were twice pegged back by the Iraqi side.
NAFIT then went in front with eight minutes to play before Yoshio Sakai finished from close in to take the game into extra time.
After Haitham Abbas’ team had again moved ahead in extra time, captain Ryuta Hoshi rocketed in from distance as the final went to penalties.
Ten successful spot kicks prolonged a truly gripping contest, before Sekiguchi scored then saved to claim the championship for Nagoya.
“We try to work on our mentality in training,” added Costa, who saw his team overcome defending champions Tasisat Daryaei of Iran on penalties in the last eight ahead of a 3-1 semi-final victory over the United Arab Emirates’ Dibba Al Hissin SCC.
“All of them worked very hard, we are a real team. A player can decide a game, but only a real team can win a championship.
“I think we deserved to win in 40 minutes; we tried to press up high and worked very hard in defence. We didn’t deserve to go to penalties.
“When we won on penalties against the defending champions, that was when the players started to think it was possible.”
www.the-afc.com/en/more/photo/nagoya_champions_jpg.html
