KUALA TERENGGANU (SW): Iran cruised to their second win in Group A of the 2017 AFC Beach Soccer Championship after beating Afghanistan 6-1 in Kuala Terengganu on Monday.
Iran’s Farid Boulokbashi, who scored four goals in the 14-0 drubbing of Malaysia the day before, drew first blood on seven minutes but Raof Qaderi equalised shortly after.
According to the Championship’s website, Afghanistan’s Qaderi then hit the woodwork a minute after the restart before Iranian captain Mohammad Ahmadzadeh missed his penalty awarded after Afghanistan skipper Zainuddin Sharifi booked a red card for a hard tackle.
With this defeat, Afghanistan dropped down to the third slot in the group. This was the first defeat for the Afghan side after beating Malaysia and China. Afghanistan would take on Bahrain on Tuesday at 11:00 am Afghanistan’s time.
The top three finishers at the AFC Beach Soccer Championship will represent Asia at the 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, which is scheduled to be held in Nassau, Bahamas from April 27 to May 7.
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