Thái Sơn Nam starts title defence with win

HA NOI — Defending champions Thai Son Nam beat Thai Son Bac 5-3 in the opening match of the National Futsal Championship in Da Nang City on Monday.

Both the teams presented their young players with the hope that they would lift their clubs to a higher level.

Thai Son Nam faced no challenge to lead 3-0 in the first half with goals by ThatPhi, Thai Huy and Quang Toan.

However, they failed to maintain their stability in the second half and Thai Son Bacgrabbed the chance to narrow the score to 2-3. Thai Son Nam’s Van Vu scored a goal before Thanh Tin scored from a penalty.

The rest time saw two more goals for Thai Son Nam and one for Thai Son Bac.

“We made many changes to the line-up because of some injured players, while some others did not retain their top form. However, the substitutes did their job,” said Thai Son Nam’s coach Nguyen Bao Quan.

“Every match is difficult. There is no easy game now like in the past. We did manage to win today, but it was not at all easy,” he added.

Coach Luis Marimon of Thai Son Bac said his players played well although they made simple mistakes leading to at least two goals for Thai Son Nam. They also wasted clear chances to score more goals.

He said the team and the coaching board members would need to talk after the match to be better prepared for the coming games.

In an earlier match on Monday, Tan Hiep Hung beat Kim Toan Da Nang 2-1.

Thai Son Nam temporarily lead the charts after the first-round match due to their better goal difference.

Thai Son Nam will next play Tan Hiep Hung; Thai Son Bac will face Sai Gonand Kim Toan Da Nang will meet Hai Phuong Nam Gia Dinh University. — VNS