Iran were crowned inaugural champions of the AFC Women’s Futsal Championship when they beat Japan 1-0 in a thrilling final on Saturday.
Both teams were quick out of the blocks at the Nilai Indoor Stadium and the first chance of note came in the fourth minute as Iran’s Fereshteh Karimi sprinted down the right and tested Japan goalkeeper Ayaka Yamamoto with a fierce drive.
Barely a minute later, Karimi had another up close and personal encounter with the Japan custodian but yet again her effort was stopped by the impressive Yamamoto’s legs.
However, the breakthrough was to come for Iran on eight minutes as an unmarked Karimi finally made her mark following confusion in the Japan area.
The pulsating encounter continued when Mutsumi Sakata fired a rocket of a shot that Farzaneh Tavasoli in the Iran goal did well to palm away.
On 18 minutes Fatemeh Etetadi fouled Sakata whose clever free-kick found skipper Shiori Nakajima but the Japan captain’s shot failed to find a way past Tavasoli in what was to prove the final opportunity of the first half.
Japan regained the initiative six minutes into the second period when Saori Kato connected with a corner only to see her effort saved by Tavasoli.
Kato then had a shot blocked by Etedadi’s body, before, in a breathless finale, Tavasoli reacted superbly to deny Nakajima and ensure her side of the title.
[quote class=”If we did not want him, we would not have signed with him after the World Cup”] AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has congratulated Iran after they claimed the AFC Women’s Futsal Championship title on Saturday.[/quote]
His full message is reproduced below.
“I would like to congratulate Iran for being crowned the first ever AFC Women’s Futsal Champions! As the first winners of the trophy, their name will be written in AFC competition history.
The AFC Women’s Futsal Championship 2015 Malaysia was the first pan-Asian women’s futsal championship and the launch of the new tournament places the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) at the forefront of global women’s futsal development. No other confederation currently has an equivalent competition. The tournament garnered wide interest on the AFC social media channels, with record numbers of hits on the AFC YouTube channel.
I am proud to say that the AFC is playing a leading role in taking women’s futsal forward. Futsal is growing steadily in Asia and as an indoor sport it is particularly suitable to Asia’s demanding climates and urban areas with scarce outdoor space.
The popularity of futsal and beach soccer is growing in Asia, with new players signing up across the continent, from the West, Central, East, North and the South. This positive development is good news also for football as both futsal and beach soccer can develop skilful future footballers for Asia.
Futsal as a high-tempo game, like beach soccer, challenges players to make quick, tactical and often imaginative decisions and this has persuaded many Member Associations to recognise the unique role futsal and beach soccer have in player development.
As the governing body of Asian football, the AFC aims to provide the right platform for the development of futsal and beach soccer for its Member Associations. Both games can help develop Asian football at the grassroots and youth level. They can also bring glory for Asia, as our teams get better and begin to challenge the world’s best for the top global prizes.
Once again, congratulations to Iran for their deserved win!”