Iran’s Fourteenth Championship in the Most Thrilling Way Possible / Futsal Remains Our Specialty!
Iran’s national futsal team faced Indonesia at 15:30 today (Saturday, local time) in the final of the 18th AFC Futsal Asian Cup at the Indonesia Arena in Jakarta. After a thrilling 5–5 draw, Iran emerged victorious in the penalty shootout with a 5–4 win to lift the championship trophy.
Unlike the previous two matches, the players coached by Vahid Shamsaei launched an aggressive attack from the outset, and Hossein Tayebi opened the scoring in the 3rd minute by finding the host’s net. The match then went through several stormy minutes, with Reza Gonawan equalizing for Indonesia in the 7th minute.
Iran’s difficult spell did not end there, as Israr Megantara scored in the 8th and 9th minutes to put the red-clad Indonesian team two goals ahead. Iran found the net through Saeid Ahmad Abbasi in the 16th minute, but the goal was disallowed because the ball had crossed the sideline. After Salar Aghapour missed a second-spot penalty, Iran managed to score in the 18th minute through Mehdi Karimi, sending the team to the locker room trailing by one goal.
The early minutes of the second half saw Iran benefit from an own goal by Samuel Eco in the 23rd minute, but the joy was short-lived, as the same player scored for Indonesia in the 24th minute. In the closing minutes of the match, while Iran were pushing for an equalizer using a five-man attack, Mehdi Karimi scored in the 37th minute to rescue his team from defeat.
The score remained unchanged until the end of regular time, sending the match into an additional 10 minutes of extra time. As the match appeared to be heading toward the end with the same scoreline, Israr scored his third goal and Indonesia’s fifth in the 40+8 minute. In the same minute, Aghapour netted Iran’s fifth goal, and after extra time ended in a draw, the winner was decided by penalty kicks.
In the shootout, Mohammad Hossein Derakhshani, Saeid Ahmad Abbasi, Salar Aghapour, Hossein Tayebi, and Hossein Sabzi converted their penalties for Iran, while Masoud Yousef failed to score. Mehdi Rostamiha saved one Indonesian penalty, and another Indonesian attempt went wide, allowing Iran to win the shootout 5–4.
As a result, Iran claimed the Asian championship title for the 14th time, remaining the most successful team in the history of the continent. / Tasnim
