A late winner from Therdsak Charoenphong gave Thailand a dramatic 3-2 win over Iraq in quarterfinals of the AFC Futsal Asian Cup™ Thailand 2024 that was played at the Hua Mark Stadium earlier this evening.
The win saw the Thais booked their ninth semifinals appearance at the continental championship where they will take on Tajikistan, who edged Afghanistan 2-1 in extra time, next.
It was Iraq who went ahead early in the game when Salim Al Husaynat pounced on a loose ball to score after two minutes before Thailand keeper Arut Senbat was punished for his mistake in the 16th minute.
Undeterred at two goals down, Thailand finally got their act together two minutes before the break when Alongkorn Janphon made good on the freekick from Jirawat Sornwichian to close the gap.
Alongkorn then scored his second of the evening to put the score at 2-2 in the 31st minute as Therdsak then scored from deep off a failed Iraq powerplay to put Thailand into the next round.
“What a game! It was a very tough game, very tough mentally for us. In the first half we were out of control. Iraq could have even scored more than two goals. But we didn’t surrender and the goal we scored to make it 2-1 changed the dynamic of the game,” said Thailand head coach Miguel Rodrigo.
In the meantime, Vietnam had to concede to a 2-1 loss in their quarterfinal encounter against Uzbekistan.
“I’m pleased with my players’ performance. Even though we lost today, we still have another chance to reach the World Cup through the playoffs,” said Vietnam head coach Diego Giustozzi.
Vietnam had taken a first half lead through Nguyen Thinh Phat in the 17th minute before Uzbeskistan fought back after the break through Ikhtiyor Ropiev in the 34th minute and then Sunatulla Juraev right at the end.
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