Hosts Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand are all through to the quarter-final stages of the AFC Futsal Asian Cup in Jakarta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indonesia booked their spot in the quarter-finals after a thrilling 5-3 win against Kyrgyz Republic in their Group A tie earlier today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The result meant that Indonesia and Iraq – who beat Korea Republic 3-2- are assured of a top two finish with the two to square off on Saturday to decide the group winners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kyrgyz Republic silenced the boisterous home crowd as early as the sixth minute when Shokhrukh Makhmadaminov\u2019s shot from distance was spilled by Indonesia keeper Ahmad Habiebie and landed over the goal line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indonesia Arena did not have to wait long to erupt in cheers again as the host equalised from a set-piece in the next minute when Rizki Xavier\u2019s kick-in found captain Mochammad Iqbal, who stooped to nod home from close range.
Indonesia went ahead five minutes later after head coach Hector Souto called for Video Support review, with Donierbek Amanbaev judged to have handled the ball with Firman Adriansyah converting the resulting penalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The remainder of the first half saw Ahmad and his counterpart Ulanbek Chorobek Uulu producing numerous saves before Firman ballooned the ball over from close range as Indonesia kept their noses ahead going into the interval.
Kyrgyz Republic\u2019s task got even harder five minutes into the second half when Ardiansyah Nur intercepted a pass inside the opposition half, drove towards the byline before crossing for Rio Pangestu to score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To their credit, the Central Asian side did not give up and pulled a goal back in the 26th minute through Makhmadaminov, who side footed the ball into the bottom corner for his second goal of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was back to level terms in the 27th minute after Kyrgyz Republic were awarded a penalty when Reza Gunawan tripped Arhat Medetbekov in semi-circle, with Maksat Alimov smashing home the ensuing spot-kick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chorobek Uulu\u2019s mistake two minutes later in aimlessly kicking away the ball saw Kyrgyz Republic surrender the lead to Indonesia once again as Ardiansyah took possession of the ball, surged forward and fired low into the bottom corner.
Things got from bad to worse for Chorobek Uulu as he scuffed a pass on the halfway line in the 34th minute to gift possession to Israr Megantara, who gleefully accepted the invitation to send the ball into an unguarded goalmouth to seal Indonesia\u2019s place in the knockout phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Iraq struck with less than a minute on the clock to edge Korea 3-2 in their\u00a0 Group A tie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Korea began in positive fashion, with Choi Hyun-bin and Eom Si-jun\u2019s early attempts were blocked by Iraq custodian Hussein Ahmed, who then suffered an injury in the eighth minute and could not continue with Ibrahim Ahmed replacing him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Salim Faisal, Iraq\u2019s star performer in their 4-2 win against Kyrgyz Republic, was presented with several opportunities but his accuracy was not at the level expected of him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The West Asians did go close in the 16th minute, Tareq Zeyad with a toe poke from outside the semi-circle but Jeong Joo-hoo read the situation well and was able to make a smart save. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The breakthrough came four minutes later after Iraq requested for a Video Support review for Kim Gun-woo\u2019s foul on Haedr Majed with a penalty awarded and converted by the latter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gun-woo didn\u2019t have to wait long to redeem himself, slotting Kim Min-seong\u2019s cross for the equaliser seconds after the interval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Things got even better for Korea Republic in the 29th minute as they took the lead following a flowing counter attacking move with Eom Si-jun surging down the left flank before crossing precisely for Eom Ji-yong to sweep the ball home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iraq pushed hard for the equaliser but found Jeong to be in inspired form, first producing a fingertip save to deny Hayder Ali.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Faisal\u2019s shot then beat the keeper but not the bar with Jeong then showing great agility to claw the ball away from the line after it had taken a couple of deflections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iraq\u2019s persistence, however, was finally rewarded in the 38th minute when Faisal\u2019s shot from distance took a deflection and caught out Jeong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Korea searching for a winner, the game completely turned on its head with seconds left to play as Iraq won the ball on the halfway line and Salim Kadhim\u2019s low shot rolled into an empty goalmouth for a thrilling win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Group B, Vietnam notched a comfortable 2-0 win over Lebanon in their tie. The win for Diego Giustozzi\u2019s men, who defeated Kuwait 5-4 in their opener, and with Thailand beating Kuwait 6-1, both teams advance to the knockout stage from Group B.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vietnam opened accounts within a minute when Dinh Cong Vien latched onto a pass from Nguyen Thinh Phat on the right and slipped the ball under keeper Karim Jouedi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They doubled their lead in the third minute through Vu Ngoc Anh, who, after seeing his initial attempt swatted away by Jouedi, calmly collected the rebound and side-footed the ball into an empty goalmouth from an acute angle on the right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lebanon locked down their defence and upfront, defender Ali Hamam\u2019s shot zipped just wide of the right post, John Jabbour saw his effort head skywards and Aboue Jaoude sounded the A-boards with his optimistic attempt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jouedi prevented a third Vietnam goal when he palmed away Tu Minh Quang\u2019s thunderous shot while his counterpart Pham Van Tu closed the first half by using his body to shield skipper Mustafa Rhyem\u2019s attempt from inside the semi-circle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vietnam were down a man six minutes after the break when Duong Ngoc Linh was flashed a second yellow card for an off-the-ball incident with Al Rahman Sous, but the West Asian side failed to capitalise on their advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both teams increased their attempts at goal, but Thinh Phat and Cong Vien could only balloon their shots while an unguarded Sous sent his effort wide of the left post with only keeper Pham in his way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lebanon will look for their first win when they face Kuwait on Saturday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Muhammad Osamanmusa starred with four goals as Thailand defeated Kuwait 6-1 to seal their knockout stage spot with a match to spare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The victory for the 2024 runners-up meant Vietnam also confirmed their quarter-final ticket, with the sides to meet on Saturday to decide the Group B winners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The teams went toe-to-toe in the opening minutes, but tight marking and lacklustre finishing meant neither Kuwait custodian Fahad Alkhawari nor his counterpart Nuttapong Yeemarep had to do any heavy lifting.
Thailand gradually began to assert themselves, with Alkhawari saving a long-range strike from Panut Kittipanuwong in the eighth minute and blocking another attempt from the midfielder moments later, this time from outside the semi-circle.
A rare foray upfront by the West Asian side saw Abduellteif Alabasi\u2019s shot from the right pushed out by Nuttapong, who then used his legs to block Al-Aziz Borashed\u2019s effort from the resulting kick-in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Panut found space on the right to force another save from Alkhawari in the 14th minute before Osamanmusa (11) ended the stalemate two minutes later when he exchanged passes with Therdsak Charoenphong and executed a backheel finish from inside the circle.
Osamanmusa netted his second two minutes before the break when he picked up a pass from Ronnachai Jungwongsuk on the right, composed himself and drove the ball past a stranded Alkhawari.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The prolific midfielder claimed his hat-trick shortly after the break when he pounced on a rebound after Alkhawari saved Sarawut Phakaphruek\u2019s effort to slot the ball in from close range.
Sarawut then initiated and finished off Thailand\u2019s fourth goal when he collected the ball from Nattapong and exchanged passes with Osamanmusa before coolly chipping over an out-of-position Alkhawari. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kuwait pulled one back in the 30th minute when Narongsak Wingwon put the ball into his own net before Osamanmusa secured Thailand\u2019s fifth by driving home after the ball rebounded off Alkhawari following a set-piece.
Thailand skipper Itticha Praphaphan added to the tally in the 36th minute when he slammed the ball into the top left corner from close range to cap the emphatic performance. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hosts Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand are all through to the quarter-final stages of the AFC Futsal Asian Cup<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[86],"class_list":["post-8539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-futsal"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t