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The Iranian women’s futsal team won the 2015 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Futsal Championship after they beat Japan 1-0 in the final at the Nilai Indoor Stadium in Malaysia on Saturday. Fereshteh Karimi scored the only goal of the game after sustained pressure on the Japanese rearguard presented them with an opportunity to score in the eighth minute of the match.
They could have scored some more, having plenty of chances to increase their lead. But Iran coach Forouzan Soleimani was very happy with the side’s win and congratulated them.
“My players played very well and our tactics worked, so, I’d like to congratulate my players for the determination they put in the game,” Soleimani said, according to The AFC’s official website.
“But then it was an extremely difficult match as Japan were the favourites and had very good discipline, tactics and techniques. They really made the game tough for us, but we managed to overcome them.
“We had done a lot in preparation for this game and our patience and perseverance had paid off with this championship. I believe the future of Iranian women’s futsal is even brighter now and we are looking forward to participating in more international championships in the future.”
Japan did all they could to mount a comeback into the game, creating a number of chances with 72% possession throughout the game and double the number of shots on goal. But Iran’s defence stood firm, especially goalkeeper Farzaneh Tavasoli who made crucial interventions when Arihara Masaaki’s side looked good to equalize.
“The game against Iran was really challenging but my team played well. After the Iranian goal, our players were confused for a while but they bounced back in spirit and then stuck to the game plan,” Masaaki said, according to Press TV.
“Especially tough was the second half where I think we made a lot more attempts than the Iranians at goal but their defence was just too thick to penetrate. We just needed one or two players in front of goal to beat the Iran keeper but this was hard to come by.”
Highlights: Iran 1-0 Japan
Iran women’s team scored one of the best Futsal goals ever against Malaysia
Earlier in the tournament, Iran had defeated Malaysia 4-2 with the highlight of the game coming in the very first minute. Three Iranian players were involved in the move which saw some beautiful turns, crisp one-touch passing and a back-heel finish from Fahimeh Zarei to make it 1-0 to shock the Malaysians. A truly amazing goal!
They did score some more highlight-reel goals in the same game, but this was the best of the lot!
