Kuwait opened their AFC Futsal Asian Cup Thailand 2024 Group D campaign with a narrow 2-1 win over Bahrain yesterday.
The result puts Kuwait second in the group behind Iran, who saw off Afghanistan 3-1 in the day’s earlier game at Hua Mark Indoor Stadium, on goal difference.
The game’s opening phases were evenly contested with both teams struggling to take control of proceedings, with the best early chance coming in the fifth minute when Saleh Al Fadhel dinked a ball through to Naser Al Alban, but the Kuwait number 9 could only fire narrowly wide.
Kuwaiti hearts were in mouths two minutes later when there was a video check for a challenge on Bahrain’s Hasan Jaafar by Najeeb Ali, but referee Anatoliy Rubakov decided the contact was accidental and did not issue a red card.
Saleh Sanjar then went on a driving run down the left, but his shot was denied by on-rushing Kuwait custodian Mohammad Al Huzaim.
Just after the halfway point in the first period Mohammad Al Ajmi went the closest so far with his angled drive needing a Sayed Mohamed’s fingertips to caress the ball wide of his left-hand post.
And in the final minute of the half, Ali Al Araibi went clear on the Kuwaiti goal only to draw a fine flying save from Al Huzaim to keep the scores level at the break.
The second half began much the same as the first half, with plenty of endeavour from both sides but few clear-cut opportunities.
However, with just over 26 minutes of the match played, Bahrain had a golden chance to open the scoring from a free-kick and they took full advantage as Al Araibi thundered the ball home with authority past Al Huzaim.
And Bahrain went close to their second just past the halfway mark in the second period when Sanjar’s effort took a wicked deflection to loop over Al Huzaim but could only find the crossbar before bouncing over.
Kuwait finally brought things back on level terms with just under eight minutes remaining when Abdulrahman Al Tawail’s corner kick was volleyed home by Ahmad Al Farsi.
Futsal is a game of the finest margins. Nowhere was that better shown than in the 26th minute, when Sanjar’s long-range effort struck the post and rebounded straight back into play.
This provided Al Tawail with the opportunity to counter, ultimately setting up Salman Al Baeijan to put Kuwait in front for the first time that night, a scoreline they would retain until the final whistle.
Kuwait will next face Afghanistan tomorrow, while Bahrain take on Iran in the day’s later game at Hua Mark Indoor Stadium.