Foolad Mahan crowns AFC Futsal championship

Iran's Foolad Mahan Sepahan team has won the crown for the inaugural AFC Futsal Club Championship after beating al-Sadd of Qatar 5-2 at Isfahan's Pirouzi Stadium.

The 36-year-old Vahid Shamsaie opened the scoring in the second minute of the Friday match. Minutes later Mohammad Taheri drove a shot into the net roof of the Qatari side, putting the tournament hosts ahead by two goals.

The Qatari side managed to score their first goal with only seven minutes to go in the first half when Shamsaie missed a header in a defensive play giving Qatari player Errahmouni Bilal the opportunity to take advantage by hitting Foolad's net, astounding the crowd.

Two minutes into the second half, the vociferous Iranian fans were once more taken aback when Bilal cleverly chipped the ball over the Iranian goalkeeper, Mostafa Nazari, and scored the equalizer.

The contest which was running out of steam towards the end with scores locked at 2-2. Life was breathed into the stadium with three minutes left on the clock when Shamsaie fed a pass to Javad Asghari on the right, and the striker hit the third goal for Iran.

The hosts put themselves further ahead of the Qataris when Asghari scored a quick goal. The last goal was scored when Shamsaie had al-Sadd goalkeeper Faraj Rashid rooted to the spot.