Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Taipei: In all four of Vietnam’s matches, there were adoring fans in the stands, having travelled to the Xinzhuang Stadium to cheer their side, and Vu Duc Tung has promised to improve himself from the experience gained in the AFC Futsal Championship to repay the supporters’ faith in him and the team.
Vietnam bounced back from an opening day 2-1 loss to Malaysia to claim wins against Bahrain and hosts Chinese Taipei to seal top spot in Group A. However, their campaign was ended in the quarter-finals when they went up against 2016 runners-ups Uzbekistan, falling to a 3-1 defeat on Thursday.
Duc Tung admitted that his performance was not satisfactory and apologised to the Vietnam fans, saying: “I think we played well, it was a good performance but there were some individual mistakes and Uzbekistan punished us.
“My own performance wasn’t good. The first goal we conceded was because of me, I lost the person I was marking. And in other instances, I missed a few opportunities.
“I want to say sorry to the fans, because we didn’t bring happiness to them
“But I also want to say thank you for your undying support.”
www.the-afc.com/en/more/photo/migeul_rodrigo_vietnam_futsal_coach.html
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Taipei: Reigning champions Islamic Republic of Iran are on the brink of another title to add to their trophy cabinet. Joining them in the semi-finals are Uzbekistan, Japan and Iraq. the-AFC.com takes a look at how each side reached the last four.
AFC Futsal Championship semi-final fixtures (kick-off times are local):
Iraq v Japan
Venue: Xinzhuang Gymnasium
Date: February 9
Kick-off: 1600 hrs
IR Iran v Uzbekistan
Venue: Xinzhuang Gymnasium
Date: February 9
Kick-off: 1900 hrs
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Taipei: Penalty shoot-out hero insists his side are up for the challenge of Japan in the final four of the AFC Futsal Championship 2018.
After a mammoth 19 penalties had come and gone, with the spot-kick scores at 9-8 in favour of Iraq following the 2-2 draw in the quarter-final against Lebanon, goalkeeper Zaher Mahdi’s time was set to come.
The Cedars’ number 3, Mustafa Rhyem, was next up and – despite the last 14 penalties having been successfully converted since Iraq’s Hasan Dakheel had spurned the chance to win the match – Mahdi’s moment, that he’d thought about since he’d started the day, arrived.
“When I woke up this morning, I felt really excited and that something good was going to happen,” the 20-year-old said.
“I just had this feeling that I was going to have an impact in the match and help my country. I had a feeling that this was going to be ‘my game’.”
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Taipei: Uzbekistan sealed a spot in the AFC Futsal Championship semi-finals after edging Vietnam 3-1 on Thursday.
Mashrab Adilov gave Uzbekistan the lead in the first half, while Choriev doubled their lead after the break but Vietnam responded quickly with Phung Trong Luan’s strike, only for Ilhomjon Hamroev to score in the final minute.
One of Vietnam’s key players, Pham Duc Hoa, missed out on the action after accumulating two yellow cards in the group stage, but the Southeast Asians were not discouraged and played with aggression from the get-go.
However, the 2016 runners-ups were unfazed, and Adilov even came close to opening the scoring for Uzbekistan in the fourth minute with his header after latching onto Davron Choriev’s deflected shot but it bounced off the upright.
The duo were at it again in the ninth minute, as Choriev launched a long range cross to the attacking third that caught Vietnam off guard, connecting with Adilov who easily beat ‘keeper Ngo Dinh Thuan to give Uzbekistan the lead.