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FNA - ASEAN champions Thailand
pulled off a major upset in the KL World 5s invitational futsal tournament
when they piped eight-time Asian winners Iran 3-2 for a place in the last
four while hosts Malaysia hammered England 6-2 en route to the plate
semi-finals at the Stadium Negara yesterday.
Earlier in a morning match, Iran defeated China with a 6-1 win but found the
Thais a hard nut to crack in their final match of the preliminary round
fixtures. The Thais advanced into the last four as the runners-up in Group B
on seven points, Malaysia Star reported.
Three-time champions Brazil, who had earlier qualified for the semi-finals
from the group, topped the table with the maximum 12 points. They completed
their group fixtures with a 2-0 win over Holland.
The Samba boys have proved to be a class above despite not sending their top
team. They had earlier scored identical 4-0 wins over China, Iran and
Thailand.
Defending champions Argentina piped Australia to the top spot in Group A
after both teams drew 3-3 in their final group match.
The South Americans top the group with a superior goal difference after both
teams were tied on 10 points.
In today's semi-finals, Argentina will face Thailand and Brazil will take on
Australia.
Meanwhile, Fadhil Yusof starred for Malaysia in their big win over England
when he bagged four goals (10th, 12th, 25th, 26th). Addie Azwan Zainal
(14th) and Fadzil Karnim (35th) added a goal each. Alex Sykes (11th) and
March Canham (36th) scored for England.
Malaysia began the tournament with a 3-2 over Indonesia before suffering two
back-to-back defeats to Argentina (1-7) and Australia (0-7) to finish third
in Group A on six points.
Malaysia coach P. Balakrishnan said, "It's a great feeling to have beaten
England and it will definitely serve as a morale-booster for the future of
Malaysian futsal. I knew we could beat England and we took our chances well
today," he said.
England coach Graeme Dell said, "We came to KL with our eyes wide open. We
knew it was going to be difficult. We certainly did not expect to win all
four matches. But we have learnt a lot from this trip and, hopefully, we
will go on to improve."
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