ALI Saleh scored two minutes from time to help Bahrain hold hosts Chinese Taipei to a 2-2 draw yesterday in their opening Group ‘A’ fixture of the AFC Futsal Championship 2018.
After a goalless first-half, the Bahrainis opened the scoring through Mohamed Abdulla.
The host nation then rebounded and took the lead with goals from Huang Tai-Hsiang and Lin Chih-hung before Saleh equalised.
“We were worried because we were playing against the host nation,” said Bahrain head coach Adel Al Marzooqi.
“But in the second-half I told the players to open up. It was a close game from the beginning. We made a few mistakes and conceded two goals.
“But I’m happy that we came back to equalise. We have two more rounds and we will try to reach the knockout stage.”
Bahrain take on Vietnam tomorrow before playing their final group game against Malaysia on Monday.
In the other Group ‘A’ match yesterday, Malaysia claimed a narrow 2-1 win over Vietnam while in Group ‘B’, Japan beat Tajikisatan 4-2 while Uzbekistan upset South Korea 3-2.
Top
Malaysia top Group ‘A’ with three points. Chinese Taipei and Bahrain are joint second and Vietnam last.
In Group ‘B’, Uzbekistan top the table ahead of Japan on goal difference.
Sixteen nations from all across the continent are participating in the tournament. Group ‘C’ features Iran, Iraq, China and Myanmar; and Group ‘D’ Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon and Jordan. The top two teams advance to the next stage.
&uuid=(email))