5/18/2008
the-afc.com

BANGKOK – Vahid Shamsaee scored twice to give retiring skipper Mohammad Reza Heidarain the perfect send-off as Iran beat Thailand 4-0 at Nimibutr Stadium to win the 2008 AFC Futsal Championship.

Majid Latifi and Heidarian grabbed the other goals as Hossein Shams' side claimed their ninth title in 10 years in a game in which they always held the upper hand over their plucky opponents.

Iran had the first clear chance when Javad Asghari Moghaddam found himself clean through on goal but keeper Somkid Chuenta saved well with his legs.

Panomkorn Saisorn was then inches away from connecting with a cross before Iran took the lead as Latifi picked up the ball from a corner and drilled a low shot past Somkid.

Thailand had a good chance to get back on level terms seconds later but Eakapong Suratsawang fired well wide when handily placed before Somkid pulled of a tremendous double stop to deny Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh.

But Iran increased their lead through the prolific Shamsaee as he broke down the left before dispatching a low finish into the bottom corner.

Shamsaee netted Iran's third just over two minutes into the second period when he bamboozled a Thai defender to create space for himself before firing between Somkid's legs.

Mohammad Keshavarz cleared Anucha Munjarern's shot off the line as Thailand looked to spark a fightback before Eakapong drew a huge cheer from the partisan crowd when, on for keeper Somkid, he produced a fine last-ditch tackle to halt Moghaddam, who was clean through on goal after a Thailand attack had broken down.

Mostafa Nazari had to be alert to beat away Prasert Innui's powerful effort at his near post before Heidarian fittingly netted the final goal of the game after he was the beneficiary of Shamsaee's good work to slide the ball into an unguarded net and seal yet another triumph for unquestionably the best futsal team in Asia.