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Opening day of AFC Beach Soccer Championship sees hosts Thailand miss out to Palestine as UAE Afghanistan and Lebanon also win
Lebanon, Afghanistan, Palestine and UAE get off to winning starts as hosts Thailand fall to five Palestine goals on the first day of AFC Beach Soccer competition action.
The kick-off of the first games in the AFC Beach Soccer Championship represented the next step on the journey to the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2019 in Paraguay.
As the biggest competition in beach soccer draws closer, nations across the world are meeting to do battle, and fight for their place in the world championships.
In the Asian qualifiers, the first beach soccer action of the competition got underway when Lebanon took on China PR in Pattaya, Thailand…
Lebanon 5-3 China (Group B)
The match that fired the starting gun on the race for one of the three precious positions in the 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, was a tight game between Lebanon and China.
It was China PR, headed by the legendary Spaniard Ramiro Amarelle, who drew first blood when Han Xuchenjiao fired home to snatch the lead.
With the slim advantage at the first break, the Chinese side looked to be in control. A goal from each team in the same minute of the second period saw the lead intact, but the score at 1-2, until Lebanon found an equaliser through Haitham Mohamad.
The sides went into the second break level-pegging, but Lebanon upped their game in the third and final period, scoring three more to take the first points in Pattaya.
Afghanistan 3-2 Malaysia *AET (Group A)
Group A’s opening match saw a stubborn Malaysia finally sunk by an extra time goal from Sami Ullah Mohammadi.
Afghanistan took the lead half-way through the opening period through a fine Abdulraof Qaderi effort, and maintained this 1-0 lead into the second period of play.
But an equaliser came from Malaysian goalkeeper Mohd Nazri Bin Sulaiman, just two minutes before the second whistle. It looked as if Malayasia had turned the match around, however, the opposite goalkeeper was the one to fire in the Afghans’ second and force extra time.
This is when Sami Ullah Mohammadi struck to snatch the two points from Malaysia and avoid penalties. However, dropping that one point after going to extra time may prove costly in the later stages…
UAE 6-1 Kyrgyz Republic (Group B)
In the third game of the day, the United Arab Emirates breezed past a Kyrgyz team with six fine goals to start their AFC Beach Soccer Championship campaign in style.
The Emirati showed now mercy towards their opposition, scoring in the first minute to claim an early lead through Kamal Albalooshi. The lead was doubled before the first whistle blew, but in the second period it was Kyrgyz Republic who scored first.
Two more goals for the UAE (this time from Walid Mohammad and Ali Hassan) took the score to 4-1.
This is how the final period began, and the Kyrgyz side just couldn’t find a way back into the match, overwhelmed by the Emirati, who netted twice more to wrap up the points in clinical fashion.
Thailand 2-5 Palestine (Group A)
Hosts Thailand struggled in the opening game of their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, against a strong Palestine side who scored five to secure the early points.
Thailand opened the scoring in the first period when Komkrit Nanan netted to pinch an early lead. But in the second period, Palestine were on a different level…
After failing to score one in the opening 12 minutes, the second period saw the Palestinians put four goals past their host keeper, with Mohammed Hassan claiming two of them.
Thailand managed to find the net twice more, but the second was an unfortunate own goal by Kittin Lorjanad in the closing stages of the match, which handed the decisive 2-5 victory to Palestine, who go top of Group A with three points.
Stay up-to-date on the results and fixtures of the AFC Beach Soccer Championship on the BSWW website.
RESULTS:
Thursday 7th March:
Lebanon 5-3 China (Group B)
Afghanistan 3-2 Malaysia *AET (Group A)
UAE 6-1 Kyrgyz Republic (Group B)
Thailand 2-5 Palestine (Group A)
FIXTURES
Friday 8th March:
Bahrain v Qatar (Group C)
Iraq v IR Iran (Group D)
Japan v Kuwait (Group C)
Saturday 9th March:
Kyrgyz Republic v Lebanon (Group B)
Palestine v Afghanistan (Group A)
Chine PR v UAE (Group B)
Malaysia v Thailand (Group A)
Sunday 10th March:
Kuwait v Bahrain (Group C)
Oman v Iraq (Group D)
Qatar v Japan (Group C)
Monday 11th March:
UAE v Lebanon (Group B)
China PR v Kyrgyz Republic (Group B)
Malaysia v Palestine (Group A)
Thailand v Afghanistan (Group A)
Tuesday 12th March:
Japan v Bahrain (Group C)
Iran v Oman (Group D)
Qatar v Kuwait (Group C)
