Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Taipei: An extraordinary last-gasp goal from captain Mohamed Al Sandi helped secure Bahrain a historic AFC Futsal Championship quarter-final place after they defeated Malaysia 3-1 to take the runners-up place on goal difference in Group A on Monday.
Having only won just one match in their entire AFC Futsal Championship history, Bahrain – playing in just their second edition of the tournament – will now take part in Thursday’s last eight along with Group A winners Vietnam, with their opponents on the night, and hosts Chinese Taipei missing out.
All four sides from Group A had a chance to qualify for the knockout stages ahead of Monday’s ties, but Bahrain put themselves in the driving seat at University of Taipei Gymnasium after taking the lead inside the opening three minutes, as Ahmed Abdulnabi back-flicked in an acrobatic volley from Mohamed Al Sandi’s headed cross from the left.
And the same player repeated the trick to double the advantage, latching onto a long, high ball forward from the back to direct an angled drive across Firdaus Razli into the opposite corner.
Needing at least a point to remain in the quarter-finals reckoning, Malaysia responded but Bahrain goalkeeper Sayed Mohamed remained resolute as the score remained 2-0 at the interval.
The Southeast Asians cranked up the pressure on Mohamed’s goal after the restart and Yazid Kamaruzuan hit the base of the Bahrain upright four minutes into the second half.