(MENAFN- Daily Outlook Afghanistan) KABUL- Afghanistan's U20 National Futsal Team strongly started the AFC FutsalChampionship in Iran and defeated Hong Kong 6-1 in their first match. Hong Kongbow out from the tournament.
Afghanistanwas in total control in the opening minutes, as they forced Hong Konggoalkeeper Justin Law Ho Yeung into early action, but the East Asian defenceheld firm.
However,there was only so much Law could have done against the non-stop Afghan attacksas the Central Asians broke the deadlock through Mojtaba Mohammadi's effort inthe sixth minute.
HaidReze Hossaini beating Hong Kong the keeper from a tight angle but his strikedeflected off the post, but with Law out of position and the goalmouth leftunguarded, Mohammadi latched onto the rebound and made no mistake with a firmright-footed shot.
HongKong were reduced to long range throws, but Afghanistan reacted quickly to denythem.
Afghanistankept the pressure on, and it almost paid off in the 17th minute when Mohammadiintercepted a back-pass before sending it to Hassan Ali Jafari, but hisclose-range attempt was denied by the custodian's boots.
TheEast Asians gave Afghanistan a scare a minute later, when Leo Chow Ka Lokheaded a kick-in into the penalty area, where Wong Wai Kwok was waiting, butthe forward failed to keep his shot down as it deflected off the top bar.
AbdulRazaq Momrak's side showed their set-piece prowess in the 20th minute, whenquick one-touch passes led to Sadiq Zaheri tapping in his first goal of thetournament, with Seyed Hosseini Mousavi claiming the assist.
AliArab Zada got into the goalscoring action two minutes into the second half,when he sprinted down the left flank before letting loose an unstoppable strikethat found the back of the net to make it 3-0.
HongKong's campaign now hung in the balance as they trailed by three goals, whichforced them out of their own half and press the issue.
Mousavi,who was Afghanistan's top scorer in the Central Zone Qualifiers, had a taste ofglory with a goal of his own after side-stepping two Hong Kong players outsidethe box in the 36th minute, before doubling his personal tally a minute laterfrom the same position.
Afghanistanwill face Iran in their second match on Sunday night and the match will kickoff at 7:30pm Kabul time. (Tolo news)
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