2nd WAFF Men Futsal Championships Kicks Off

The 2^nd West Asian Football Federation “WAFF” Fustal Championships for Men kicked off on 31/08/2009 in Amman, Jordan. The number of teams participating was reduced to 5 after the Palestinian delegation was unable to get permission from the Israeli representatives to leave the territory. The teams taking part in the tournament include; Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and the hosts Jordan. All matches will take place at the Sport Palace in the Al-Hussein Sport City in Amman.

The first match between Jordan and Syria ended 4-1 in favour of the Jordanians. Jordan dominated most of the game with 4 goals coming from Mohammed Naji (14min), Fahd Al-Qawasmi (16min), Ahmad Aqel, and Al-Qawasmi respectively. The Syrian goalscorer, Muhammed Estanbulle, managed to grab a goal in the 40th minute.

The second match saw Iraq defeat Lebanon by 2 goals to 1 in the first shock of the championship. Lebanon took the lead through a penalty by Hayssam Atwi in the 7th minute. Iraq equalized in the 11^th minute through Karrar Althabeti. The winning goal came in the 33rd minute as Iraq managed to see out Lebanon’s continuous pressure.