Thaiport made it a hat-trick of titles in the AFF Futsal Club Invitational Championship 2017 when they blasted Sanna Khanh Hoa of Vietnam 4-0 in the final that was played at the Bangkok Arena in Nongchok this afternoon.
Regarded as the second best Futsal team in Thailand behind Chonburi, the Thaiport lads played with a lot of confidence and were a lot more composed in front of several thousand fans.
Sanna Khanh Hoa on the other hand, were more defensive as they seem to be playing under pressure and was lacking their usual panache.
That was all that Thaey iport needed as they sniffed the whiff of victory early in the third minute with the first goal of the game when Marcos Mendoca fired in a corner that ricocheted off Nguyen Quoc Bao and into goal.
Two minutes later and Thaiport were 2-0 up.
The goal could not have come at a more opportune time to give Thaiport more control as Chaivat Jamgrajang floated in a long ball from his own half well beyond the reach of Sanna keeper Nguyen Dinh Hoa, who was well off his line.
Under immense pressure, Sanna tried to push forward but Thaiport’s defensive line stood all onslaught as the latter maintained overall hold on the match.
In the 15th minute, disaster struck for Sanna when Nguyen Nho picked up a second yellow card for a red to head for the early shower.
But in spite of the numerical advantage, Thaiport could not add to the scoreline as it stood all the way into the second half.
Sanna pulled out all the stops but with their failure to make it counts with the few chances which they had carved, it put Thaiport firmly in the driver’s seat.
And after absorbing much of the pressure, a quick counter in the 33rd minute saw Mendoca nailing Thaiport’s third and his second of the encounter with a sweet left footer.
Six minutes later, Chaivat then finished things off with the fourth goal of the game latching on to a pass from Anantachai Prabwongsa.
In the meantime, Melaka United of Malaysia took third spot in the competition when they edged Permata Indah Manokwari of Indonesia 4-2 in the classification match played earlier.
It was Permata Indah who went ahead first in the sixth minute when Khalid El Hattach blasted in a corner that went off Mohd Firdaus Ambiah and into goal.
But Melaka then fought back two minutes later through Saiful Aula Ahmad to put both teams on level terms at the half.
The second half was all Melaka as they took more control to eventually score three more goals in a two-minute blitz through Muhammad Shamsul Amar Zamri (25th and 26th minute) and Yazid Kamaruzuan (27th).
RESULTS
9 July 2017
FINAL: THAIPORT beat SANNA KHANH HOA 4-0
THIRD/FOURTH: MELAKA UNITED beatPERMATA INDAH MANOKWARI 4-2
