Two goals from Hossein Tayyebi helped Vietnamese club, Thai Son Nam, emerge as 2-0 victors over Al Dhafra (UAE) in their last Group A match on July 24, thereby qualifying for the quarterfinals of the 2017 AFC Futsal Club Championship

HIGHLIGHT MATCH:

Thai Son Nam began the clash, at Phu Tho Gymnasium in Ho Chi Minh City, with great determination, targeting the victory that would allow them to advance through to the next round (as the group’s runners-up).

Iranian star Tayyebi lived up to expectations by putting the Vietnamese side in front with his opening goal after seven minutes.

At the opposite end of the court, Al Dhafra imposed a strong pressure on the Thai Son Nam players, forcing them to commit unnecessary mistakes. The UAE team was awarded a penalty kick in the 13th minute, but Williams missed the chance to equalise as he failed to beat Vietnamese keeper Van Huy from the spot.

For the remainder of the first half, Thai Son Nam played with great precaution and put Al Dhafra’s defensive line on “red alert” a number of times. Four minutes before the break, Tayyebi managed to double the advantage for the Vietnamese side.

Both teams made concerted efforts as they tried to score in the second half, however, neither successfully took advantage of opportunities to change the 2-0 score.

Concluding the groupstage of the competition, Thai Son Nam, Al Dhafra and Erem (Kyrgyzstan) finished on the same six points, but the first two teams won quarterfinal berths thanks to having a better goal difference.

Next up for Thai Son Nam will be a quarterfinal clash with either Al Rayyan (Qatar) or Nafit Al-Wasat (Iraq), who will meet later today to decide the top two finishers of Group B.