Mes Sungun, Oceans in AFC Futsal Club C’ship final

Defending champions Mes Sungun Varzeqan of Islamic Republic of Iran advanced to the final of the AFC Futsal Club Championship Thailand 2019 in style, defeating AGMK FC 7-3 in their semi-final on Thursday.

Mes Sungun will face three-time champions Nagoya Oceans of Japan in the final on Saturday, while AGMK will take on Vietnam’s Thai Son Nam FC in the third place play-off.

The final will be a thriller, with Mes Sungun eager to atone for their defeat to the Japanese side in a Group D tie on Monday.

Mes Sungun showed their intent as early as the first minute when they came close to scoring through Mohammad Shajari but his effort was blocked by AGMK goalkeeper Rustam Umarov.

Mahdi Javid almost broke the deadlock two minutes later but the 2018 MVP smashed his effort against the bar after finding space at the top of the arc.

Mes Sungun would come close again in the 15th minute but Alireza Vafaei saw his long-range effort denied by the upright.

The Iranian side finally opened the scoring through Javid, who exchanged passes with Alireza Askari Kohan before finding the back of the net.

Mes Sungun doubled their lead in the 18th minute through captain Farhad Fakhim, who finished off Javid’s assist from the edge of the area.

AGMK were a shadow of the side that had beaten Port FC in the quarter-finals as they conceded again two minutes later when Shajari scored from above the arc off a Javid assist.

There was no stopping Mes Sungun as they added their fourth goal in the 16th minute through Javid who fired his effort past Umarov from the right flank following Abolghasem Orouji’s shot which came off the post.

AGMK suffered a blow when Khusniddin Nishonov received his marching orders after picking up his second yellow card.

Despite being a man down, AGMK rallied and scored two goals in the final two minutes, the first from Akbar Usmonov who finished off Davron Choriev’s assist from close range and then, Choriev scored after capitalising on a defensive error to reduce the deficit going into the break.

AGMK threatened at the start of the second half as they pushed for goals with Mes Sungun goalkeeper Alireza Samimi constantly in the thick of action.

The Uzbekistan side came close in the 29th minute but Davron Valijonov, with only the goalkeeper to beat, failed to latch onto Dilshod Rakhmatov’s cross from the right.

AGMK were punished for the miss as Mes Sungun increased their advantage two minutes later through Askari Kohan’s strike from above the arc.

AGMK responded immediately through Rakhmatov’s effort a minute later to reduce the deficit and then initiated the power play.

The plan backfired though as Mes Sungun scored two quick goals through Javid in the 36th minute to seal their place in the final.

Nagoya Oceans meanwhile advanced to the final after defeating Thai Son Nam 3-1 in their semi-final on Thursday.

After the early end-to-end play, Oceans upped the tempo and were rewarded as Pepita finished off Yoshikawa’s assist in the fifth minute.

The Japanese outfit doubled their lead in the 16th minute after an exchange of passes between Yoshikawa and Pepita ended with the Brazilian scoring from above the arc to increase his tournament tally to seven.

Despite trailing, Thai Son Nam continued to struggle and Oceans took a 2-0 lead into the break.

The half-time pep talk had the desired effect as Thai Son Nam started the second half strongly and came close to reducing the deficit twice in the 25th minute through Nguyen Minh Tri and then Tran Thai Huy, but both efforts were blocked by Sekiguchi.

Thai Son Nam’s aggression, however, was rewarded just a minute later as Nguyen Manh Dung slotted home after Sekiguchi had saved Ton That Phi’s initial effort.

Thai Son Nam’s hopes of a comeback suffered a blow in the 33rd minute when Pham Duc Hoa received his marching orders after a second yellow card.

This spurred Oceans to push forward and they confirmed their place in the final when Shota Hoshi’s shot from the left was deflected into the net.