Qantas Futsalroos downed by Thailand

The Qantas Futsalroos have been defeated 2-4 by Thailand in their second international friendly match in Suphaburi, Thailand.

The Qantas Futsalroos have been defeated 4-2 by Thailand in their second international friendly match in Suphaburi, Thailand.

After narrowly being beaten by the highly ranked Thais on Friday evening, the Qantas Futsalroos came into Sunday-s match with nothing to lose and plenty to gain.

After a goalless opening ten minutes, Thailand opened the scoring through Suprapong Thompa whose shot was initially saved by Qantas Futsalroos goalkeeper Angelo Konstantinou but dribbled over the line as Konstantinou scrambled to make the recovery save.

Thailand doubled their lead less than a minute later when they intercepted of a throw from Konstantinou in the middle of the court. This gave Thailand a three-against-two opportunity and they moved swiftly from middle of the court into the corner and played a square ball to the back post for Konghla Lekka who made no mistake with his tap in.

Three minutes later the Qantas Futsalroos equalised following some good build up play from the back. Greg Giovenali played a through ball in behind the Thai defence for Danny Ngaluafe. Ngaluafe-s first time shot beat the rushing Thai keeper.

The Qantas Futsalroos equalised in the final minute of the half when Fernando De Moraes was played in down the line, beat his defender and then put a square ball across the top of the D to find Renagi Ingram, who took one touch and then hit his shot hit the roof of the net.

Seconds later, Thailand took back the lead after the Qantas Futsalroos conceded their sixth foul of the match, which resulted in a 10m penalty. Suprapong Thompa made no mistake in converting it just before the half-time whistle.

The Qantas Futsalroos dominated the majority of the second half and put the Thai team under a lot of pressure, but five minutes in Thailand hit a deft diagonal pass to the Qantas Futsalroos back post, which was easily tapped in to seal the win.

Any hopes of a Qantas Futsalroos come back were shattered with three minutes to go when Greg Giovenali was sent off for his second yellow card.

Even with a man down, the Qantas Futsalroos defended well for the next two minutes and prevented Thailand from penetrating with the extra man.

The Qantas Futsalroos had two good chances very late in the game which were saved and both occasions. Thailand were lucky not to concede their sixth foul after a Thai defender brought down Toby Seeto and Fernando De Moraes to bring up fouls four and five respectively.

After the match Qantas Futsalroos head coach Steve Knight was happy with his team-s performance over the two friendly matches and form going into the AFC Futsal Championship.

“The team showed exceptional improvement from the first game and I am very pleased with our performance and the progress we have made," Knight said.

“We defended so well that we disrupted their attacking game and forced them back towards their goal constantly.

“The number of chances they had on our goal were significantly reduced and resulted in more shots being taken from distance.

“We will now switch our focus to our first match against Qatar and achieving qualification for the quarter final. Our confidence and team harmony is growing and I am pleased with where we are at,” concluded Knight.

The Qantas Futsalroos will now travel to Dubai, UAE to finalise their preparations for the AFC Futsal Championship which begins at the end of the week.

Qantas Futsalroos Squad for AFC Futsal Championship 2012 UAE

Jarrod Basger (NSW) Fernando De Moraes (VIC) Daniel Fogarty (NSW) Gregory Giovenali (NSW) Andres Gomez (NSW) Renagi Ingram (QLD) Simon Keith (NSW) Angelo Konstantinou (gk) (ACT) Dean Lockhart (NSW) Danny Ngaluafe (QLD) Tobias Seeto (NSW) Peter Spathis (gk) (NSW) Lachlan Wright (NSW) Christopher Zeballos (NSW)

Team Officials Steven Knight - Head Coach (NSW) Rob Varela - Assistant Coach (NSW) Roger Cua- Goalkeeper Coach (ACT) Deane Stephens - Physiotherapist (SA) Joel Freeme - Team Manager (FFA)