AFC - Vahid Shamsaee scored
twice to give retiring skipper Mohammad Reza Heidarain the perfect send-off
as Iran beat Thailand 4-0 at Nimibutr Stadium to win the 2008 AFC Futsal
Championship.
Majid Latifi and Heidarian grabbed the other goals as Hossein Shams' side
claimed their ninth title in 10 years in a game in which they always held
the upper hand over their plucky opponents.
Iran had the first clear chance when Javad Asghari Moghaddam found himself
clean through on goal but keeper Somkid Chuenta saved well with his legs.
Panomkorn Saisorn was then inches away from connecting with a cross before
Iran took the lead as Latifi picked up the ball from a corner and drilled a
low shot past Somkid.
Thailand had a good chance to get back on level terms seconds later but
Eakapong Suratsawang fired well wide when handily placed before Somkid
pulled of a tremendous double stop to deny Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh.
But Iran increased their lead through the prolific Shamsaee as he broke down
the left before dispatching a low finish into the bottom corner.
Shamsaee netted Iran's third just over two minutes into the second period
when he bamboozled a Thai defender to create space for himself before firing
between Somkid's legs.
Mohammad Keshavarz cleared Anucha Munjarern's shot off the line as Thailand
looked to spark a fightback before Eakapong drew a huge cheer from the
partisan crowd when, on for keeper Somkid, he produced a fine last-ditch
tackle to halt Moghaddam, who was clean through on goal after a Thailand
attack had broken down.
Mostafa Nazari had to be alert to beat away Prasert Innui's powerful effort
at his near post before Heidarian fittingly netted the final goal of the
game after he was the beneficiary of Shamsaee's good work to slide the ball
into an unguarded net and seal yet another triumph for unquestionably the
best futsal team in Asia.
