Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Bangkok: Three goals in the first three minutes helped Islamic Republic of Iran confirm their status as Group D winners as they registered a 9-2 win over short-handed Uzbekistan at the AFC Women’s Futsal Championship 2018 on Monday.
The reigning champions will now face China PR in Wednesday’s quarter-finals, while Uzbekistan will regroup ahead of their meeting with Japan.
Playing against Shahrzad Mozafar’s team is never easy, but Uzbekistan’s task was made considerably more difficult by the absence of their two specialist goalkeepers, who were both shown red cards in their previous match against Turkmenistan.
Field player Iradahon Turdalieva stepped into the breach and conceded after just 19 seconds when Tanzilya Zarbieva’s attempted block flew into her own net.
Sara Shirbeigi’s deflected effort doubled the lead a minute later and when Fereshteh Karimi fired in a simply unstoppable free-kick, and it was 3-0 to Iran in the blink of an eye.
That signalled the start of Avaz Maksumov’s utilisation of Maluda Munaraova as a floating goalkeeper whenever Uzbekistan took possession of the ball. The ploy worked insofar as the Iranian goal rush temporarily ceased while the Uzbeks enjoyed far more possession.
Iran added a fourth goal when Fatemeh Etedadi pounced on a loose ball after Turdalieva spilled a shot in the 10th minute, before Uzbekistan created some reasonable scoring chances - and one excellent one for Lyudmila Karachik - late in the first half.
www.the-afc.com/en/more/photo/iran_v_uzbekistan_-_afcwfc_2018_md3.html
www.the-afc.com/en/more/photo/iran_vs_uzbekistan_-_afcwfc_2018_md3.html
