The futsal team of Turkmenistan played a draw - 4:4 with the team of Bahrain at the 2022 Asian Cup in Kuwait, missing the victory 30 seconds before the end of the game. It was a match of the second round in group "B", in which the teams of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are also fighting for two tickets to the quarterfinals.
The national teams of Turkmenistan and Bahrain had an unsuccessful start in the tournament, losing in the first round, respectively, to their rivals from Uzbekistan - 0:8 and Tajikistan - 3:4. And so full-time duel for both teams was of great importance.
The first minutes of the meeting, held at the Saad Al Abdullah sports complex, passed in an equal fight. After the 10th minute, Ahmed Mohammed Antar opened the scoring without handling the ball with a powerful blow to the upper right corner of the goal. At the 13th minute, the Turkmen team played a spectacular combination, which was completed with a brilliant shot into the far corner of the goal by the player of Kopetdag Gurbangelly Sahedov - 1:1.
The Bahrainis immediately responded with a quick attack and after 29 seconds again took the lead - 2:1. Saleh Ahmed forced goalkeeper Meretgeldi Bayramov to parry a long-range shot, but Mohmed Abdullah, who was the first to finish, did not miss his chance.
Less than a minute later, Gurbangelly Sahedov restored the status quo after a corner with a magnificent kick to the left "nine" - 2:2.
1 minute 14 seconds before the end of the first half, a player from the Bahrain national team fouled Danila Panchenko, and our futsal players got the right to a penalty kick. The goalkeeper repulsed the first blow with the right foot of Gurbangeldy Sahedov, but was powerless against the repeated left one, and the teams went to the break with the score 3:2 in favor of Turkmenistan.
In the 26th minute, goalkeeper Syed Mohamed fouled Danil Panchenko, and Gurbangeldy Sahedov scored poker from a 6-meter penalty (he scored 4 goals in one match), increasing the advantage of the Turkmenistan national team to 4:2.
After 22 seconds, a penalty kick for handball by Gylychmurad Gylychmuradov was awarded to our team, and Fallah Abbas reduced the gap to a minimum - 3:4.
In the remaining 6 minutes, hoping to win back, the head coach of the Bahrain national team, Marcelino da Silva, released an extra field player instead of the goalkeeper. After the fifth foul committed in the second half, the wards of Guvanch Kanaev were forced to play with less aggression at the end of the match, which the Bahrainis took advantage of. The dramatic denouement of the match for our team happened 30 seconds before the end of the game, when Alsandi passed unhindered through the center of the site and irresistibly struck - 4:4, giving his team a little hope of reaching the quarterfinals.
In another match of the 2nd round, the futsal players of Uzbekistan won the team of Tajikistan - 3:2 and secured the right to play in the quarterfinals ahead of schedule with 6 points.
Tajikistan has 3 points; Bahrain and Turkmenistan have 1 point each.
Thus, the fate of the second ticket to the quarterfinals will be decided in the duel between the teams of Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. Turkmenistan players need a victory to reach the 1/4 finals, while Tajik futsal players will be satisfied with a draw.
“We will need to properly prepare for the match with the team of Tajikistan, which has strong players. The tournament continues and I hope we can win the next game and advance to the next round. I believe in my players,” said Guvanch Kanaev -head coach of the Turkmenistan national team at a pre-match press conference.
