FUTSAL – First-time champions will be crowned after Japan defeated Iran 3-2 in their AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup semi-final at the Hohhot Sports Centre in China yesterday.
Two-time runners-up Japan will face Thailand in tomorrow’s final while Iran, who won the previous two editions, will face China in the third-place playoff, with the winners to qualify for the Fifa Women’s Futsal World Cup in the Philippines.
Japan got off to a blistering start with Naomi Matsumoto seeing her grounded effort blocked while at the other end, Iran hit back on the counter-attack with Fereshteh Khosravi forcing keeper Nene Inoue into a save.
Backed into their own half, Iran were left stunned in the third minute after Mika Eguchi collected her own blocked effort to set up Risa Ikadai to score from inside a packed box.
Another brilliant play from Japan left Iran chasing a two-goal deficit a minute later when Inoue launched a long pass to Yuka Iwasaki, who teed up Kyoka Takahashi to drill the ball into the bottom left corner.
With Ryo Egawa stretched off after suffering a knock, Iran pounced on the opportunity to up the tempo in the 14th minute with Maral Torkaman rattling the left post before the 22-year-old’s shot was brilliantly kept out by Inoue moments later.
Iran pushed forward with added intensity but their finishing deserted them with Elham Anafjeh and Khosravi seeing their efforts saved by Inoue, while Fatemeh Hosseini beat her marker on the right before missing the right post by a whisker.
Japan continued to absorb the pressure in the second half, eventually succumbing in the 24th minute when Khosravi reacted the quickest off a rebounded free-kick to set up Torkaman, who finished with a powerful strike.
Although limited to counter-attacks, Japan almost restored their two-goal lead two minutes later when Sara Oino sidestepped her marker on the right, only to see her powerful shot rattle the left post.
They had better luck in the 30th minute though as a sudden burst of pace caught Iran off guard with Inoue again the initiator, releasing Anna Amishiro on the left to lay the ball perfectly for Yukari Miyahara to finish from close range.
Iran, however, refused to concede defeat and Torkman showed her class in deadball situations when she drilled the ball past a sea of Japanese players into the bottom right corner in the 32nd minute.
Meanwhile, Thailand made history yesterday by defeating China in an enthralling encounter to advance to the final.
The 3-2 victory meant that the Southeast Asians qualified for the inaugural Fifa Futsal Women’s World Cup by claiming one of the three available berths.
Thanatorn Santanaprasit’s side, whose best finish was third place at each of the previous two editions, had to dig deep to emerge victorious.
After a cagey opening few minutes, Thailand began to exert control and Sangrawee Meekham had Liu Danping diving across goal to save her effort, with Nattamon Artkla firing over shortly after.
Liu then fielded a tamer shot from Sangrawee and Jenjira Bubpha sent the ball bouncing past the left post, while Sasiphrapa Suksen easily dealt with strikes from Su Jiahong and Jiang Xiaoyu at the other end.
The pressure would eventually pay off for the Thais, despite the heroics of Liu. Having brilliantly saved a deflected shot from Arriya Saetoen and a fierce volley from Jenjira, the goalkeeper was helpless to prevent Hataichanok Tappakun’s corner from ending up in the net after a hefty touch off Zou Yinglan for an own goal in the 11th minute.
With the wind in their sails, Thailand began to dominate proceedings more and retook the lead in the 32nd minute. Receiving the ball on the left, Arriya advanced and slid a low shot that took a nick off Zhan Huimin to end up in goal.
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