Indonesia claimed third place in Group B at the AFC Futsal Championship after recording a 4-3 win over China at Ton Duc Thang University Stadium on Sunday.

Andri Kustiawan and Caisar Silitonga each scored twice for Indonesia with neither side able to qualify for the quarter-finals following earlier defeats by Iran and Australia.

China had led 2-1 midway through the first half thanks to quickfire goals from Zhao Liang and Wang Tianyi, although Andre Lima’s side were unable to avoid a third defeat of the campaign with Agustin Andriansyah’s last minute own goal arriving too late.

“I am happy with the result and the effort of the players,” said Indonesia coach Andri Irawan.

“It is good for Indonesia to play with teams like Australia and Iran and we will work hard with this team to improve in the future.

“We will look to play better in the future. We will make this team better and grow for the future.”

With only pride and third place to play for, China almost took the lead inside the first 15 seconds as Geng Deyang hit the outside of the Indonesia post.

But it was Indonesia who opened the scoring inside three minutes as Kustiawan converted at the second attempt from close range having seen his initial effort blocked by China goalkeeper Zhu Bei.

China, though, were back on level terms just over five minutes later as Zhao’s low shot from outside of the penalty area found the bottom corner past Agus Salam’s outstretched hand.

And China completed the turnaround less than two minutes later as Zhang Wen’s pass created the angle for Wang to beat Salam at his near post from the edge of the area.

But the lead lasted less than a minute as Silitonga rounded off an eye-catching move with a composed finish past Zhu from inside the area.

And Indonesia regained the lead midway through the second half as Kustiawan’s shot with the outside of his foot from the edge of the area evaded China goalkeeper Zhu and covering defender Zhang Wen.

Adventurous China coach Lima quickly responded by introducing Zhao in place of goalkeeper Zhu with just under eight minutes remaining.

But the move backfired with just under five minutes remaining as China lost possession close to the halfway line and Silitonga found the empty net from just inside his own half.

China did pull a goal back with less than a minute remaining as Andriansyah turned Deng Tao’s pass across the face of goal into his own net, but Indonesia saw out the remaining seconds to seal the win.

“We came here to gain some experience. Of course we wanted to win, but we have a long way to go as we need time to improve. This is a very young team, the players are very young and we must work better on the futsal in China. Playing at this level is very difficult, but for the players it is a good experience,” said China coach Lima.

“This project has only just started in China and it will take three or four years as this is just the beginning. This is a new and young team and they need time to work and train.

“We will look to play friendly matches until the next tournament. We will train in China and play friendly matches inside and outside of China as only with these type of games will the players improve.”

According to AFC