MEDIA RELEASE
THUMPING DEFEAT FOR INDONESIA AS IRAN MAKES PLATE FINAL
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| Iran Masoud Daneshvar (No.14 in white) - Indonesia's Maulana Ihsan (No.9) and Sukma Nagara (No.13) |
The score line may describe a thrashing, but Indonesia’s gutsy performance drew praise from the coach of the eight-time Asian champions.
“This tournament has been an eye-opener for us and where it has taught us how to cope when we have to play two matches in one day. And today after the good rest last night, we played our usual game against a much improved side from Indonesia,” said Hosein Shams, the head coach for Iran.
“And while some might think that it was a stroll for us against Indonesia considering the score line, the fact is that the game was a lot harder. And now we are looking forward to the opportunity of playing against Holland tomorrow.”
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| Indonesia Jaelani Ladjanibi (No.6 in red) - Iran Mohamad Keshavari (No.4 in white) |
But once the floodgates opened in the ninth minute, when Mohamad Keshavari rounded off Indonesian keeper Yos Adi Wicaksono for the lead, there was no stopping the Iranian onslaught.
Iran made sure of their win with goals from Masoud Daneshvar (13th minute), Mohamad Latifi (14th minute), Zahmatkesh (17th, 26th, 28th and 33rd), Javad Moghaddam (19th, 20th), Ali Hassanzadeh (21st), Vahid Shamsaee (25th), Kazem Mohammadi (32nd) and Mohammad Taheri (39th).
Indonesia’s only goal of the afternoon came from Socrates Matulessy in the 32nd minute.
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| Iran Ali Hassanzadeh (No.13 in white) - Indonesian keeper Yos Adi Wicaksono (No.1 in yellow) - Andri Irwan (No.4 in red) |
“The first ten minutes was good but the players became tired after that which led to the first goal. And from then on, there was just no stopping Iran,” added Justinus Lhaksana, the head coach for Indonesia.
“But the Iranians were so much better than the Argentineans with their slick passing and incredible control of the ball. And with us making so many individual mistakes, we paid dearly for it.”
FIXTURES and RESULTS (2nd Feb, 2008)
| 12am: Malaysia vs Holland | (5-0) |
| 2pm: Iran vs Indonesia | (13-1) |
| Semifinals | |
| 5pm: Argentina vs Thailand | |
| 7pm: Brazil vs Australia |
CURRENT STANDINGS
| Group A | |||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | PTS | |
| ARGENTINA | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 5 | 10 |
| AUSTRALIA | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 5 | 10 |
| MALAYSIA | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 18 | 6 |
| INDONESIA | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 16 | 3 |
| ENGLAND | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 31 | 0 |
| Group B | |||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | PTS | |
| BRAZIL | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 12 |
| IRAN | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 6 |
| THAILAND | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 3 |
| HOLLAND | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 4 |
| CHINA | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 0 |
About the KL World 5's
The KL World 5's takes place between 29th January and 3rd February 2008 at Stadium Negara, Malaysia's first indoor stadium and a national heritage building. The event will be telecasted to over 310 million viewers across Asia on STAR Sports with over 100 hours of coverage, comprising 30 telecast hours, including 20 hours of live programming - translating into extensive media exposure for Malaysia.
The KL World 5's will have a total purse of US$150,000, and feature 10 teams in this prestigious tournament. The event is expected to draw futsal fans from Malaysia and the region with the pedigree of the international teams such as Brazil, Argentina, Holland and England will join the likes of Asian champion Iran, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia and hosts Malaysia in action.
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