Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Taipei: Uzbekistan secured third place in the AFC Futsal Championship 2018, defeating Iraq 2-1 in a penalty shoot-out after the exciting play-off ended 4-4 at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium on Sunday.
In the opening minutes, both sides played cautiously and only looked to apply pressure when necessary, and in one such instance in the third minute, Dilshod Rakhmatov intercepted Zaid Ali’s pass, before Davron Choriev beat goalkeeper Yahya Abdulnoor for Uzbekistan to take an early lead.
Iraq then began to pile on the pressure and had more control over the ball, but with Uzbek custodian Rustam Umarov guiding his backline, the West Asians had few opportunities on target.
However in the 15th minute, Ali rectified his earlier mistake by dispossessing Rakhmatov in front of the box, and fired off a firm shot to the bottom right to equalise for Iraq.
Haitham Abbas’ charges returned in the second half more passionate and 20 seconds in, Waleed Khalid found the back of the net with a superb volley from a corner set-play, before Salim Faisal doubled their advantage two minutes later when his shot bounced in between the framework and into the goal.
Uzbekistan, who finished third in 2005, 2007 and 2014 and were runners-up two years ago, were hardly demoralised despite the two-goal deficit, and in the 26th minute skipper Artur Yunusov neatly converted from a corner.
www.the-afc.com/en/more/photo/iraq-3rd-goal.html
