Sanna Khanh Hoa of Vietnam will take on defending champions Thaiport for the crown of the AFF Futsal Club Invitational Championship 2017 in two days at the Bangkok Arena in Nongchok.
This after each team overcame their semi-finals opponents with relative ease with Sanna Khanh Hoa blasting Permata Indah Manokwari of Indonesia 3-0 while Thaiport drove past Melaka United of Malaysia 8-1.
It would seem that the continued absence of Rico Zulkarnain tp a calf injury would weigh heavily this time round against a more organised Sanna Khanh Hoa side.
While two days earlier, a Rico-less Permata Indah managed to wriggle past Pyay United for a place in the semi-finals, this time round they just lacked the bite against a strong Sanna defence.
A mistake early in the third minute when keeper Teguh Sarendra failed to make a clean save of an attempt from Mai Thanh Dat allowed Nguyen Quoc Bao slamming in the rebound.
An over-reliant on Khalid El Hattach saw Permata Indah paying a heavy price as another keeper mistake in the 20th minute saw Khong Dinh Hung making good on the loose ball for them to lead 2-0 at the half.
Brimming with confidence, Sanna continued to press Permata hard well into the second half.
And with Permata unable to get a clean shot, it was Sanna who went further ahead in the 29th minute off Tran Tan Dat as they side from Vietnam booked their first ever place in the final of the AFF Futsal Club Invitational Championship.
For Permata, their disappointment was compounded further in the 37th minute when Ardiansyah was red carded for impeding Phan Khac Chi of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
In the meantime, Thaiport inched closer to grabbing their hat-trick of crowns when they booked their third appearance in the final in three years.
Thaiport came back from an early setback to blast Melaka United 8-1.
Playing without inspirational custodian Muhammad Firdaus Razali, who has been suspended to yellow card offences, affected the team’s confidence even though it was Melaka who made the score sheet first.
A clever break in the fifth minute totally caught Thaiport off guard with Anukul Mini conceding an own goal off an attempt from Mohd Khairul Effendy Mohd Bahrin.
But just when Melaka United were still in a state of euphoria, Thaiport came back stronger in front of their home fans to deliver the equaliser barely a minute later with Thanakorn punishing some hesitant defending.
From then on, Thaiport never looked as they lived up to their billing as the second best team in Thailand to score seven more goals for the easy win.
Muhammad Shamsul Amar Zamri conceded an own goal in the 11th minute to be followed by goals from Marcos Mendoca (12th), Anukul (17th), Chaivat Jamrajang (29th), Warin Romanee (33rd), Sarawut Jaipech (35th penalty) and Lertchai Issarasuwipakorn.
RESULTS – SEMIFINALS
7 July 2017
SANNA KHANH HOA beat PERMATA INDAH MANOKWARI 3-0
THAIPORT beat MELAKA UNITED 8-1
FIXTURES
9 July 2017
1415 (THIRD/FOURTH): PERMATA INDAH MANOKWARI vs MELAKA UNITED
1615 (FINAL): SANNA KHANH HOA vs THAIPORT
