BUKIT JALIL - Iran are expected to pack too much power for Uzbekistan when both teams meet in the KL World 5s futsal championship’s curtain-raising Group D match at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil tomorrow. Even without Vahid Shamsaee, Iran’s and probably Asia’s best player who is nursing a knee injury, Iran should have little difficulty disposing off Uzbekistan, the best exponent of futsal in Asia until Iran’s surge to the top in the later half of the 1990’s. Though Iran’s head coach Mohammed Hassan tried to be circumspect about Iran’s prospects, there was no shading the chances of his team, brimming with the confidence that stems from encouraging results against formidable opposition in recent months. Most significant among these were a 2-4 loss and a 2-2 draw against current world champions Spain. “We think Brazil and Argentina are the top teams in this tournament but we are looking to do well against all teams,” said Hassan. Uzbekistan are looking past this tournament towards the Asian championship in Japan later this year and towards qualifying for the world championship in Chinese-Taipei next year. The Uzbeks are certainly no pushovers but they know that the gap between them and Iran has widened in recent years due to rising Iranian excellence while the Uzbeks consider themselves fortunate to hobnob with the redoubtable in world futsal. |
IRAN BY ANY STRETCH <img border="0" src="http://www.persianleague.com/images/pic.gif">
- Persianleague
- - Jun 03, 2003
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