Pattaya, March 20 (IANS) The Chinese men’s beach soccer team fell 5-3 to Saudi Arabia in its opening Group B match of the AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup 2025 in Pattaya on Thursday in an encounter marked by dramatic momentum shifts.
China struck first through a swift counterattack, but Saudi Arabia equalized late in the same period. Saudi Arabia briefly took the lead in the second period. China responded instantly, as goalkeeper Guo Wei unleashed a thunderous strike from his own goal line to level the score at 2-2, reports Xinhua.
The action intensified in the closing seconds of the second period. China regained the lead through Liu Yisi’s left-footed free-kick, awarded after a Saudi handball offense, only for Saudi Arabia’s Majed Shamhani to mirror the feat moments later with a free-kick resulting from a Chinese handball, leaving the score tied at 3-3.
Saudi Arabia broke the deadlock in the final period with a header in the 27th minute. China’s hopes faded when its opponent scored a penalty in the dying moments, sealing Saudi Arabia’s 5-3 victory.
The 16-team tournament sees China competing in Group B alongside Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. In Thursday’s other group match, Japan edged Iraq 4-3. China will next face Iraq on Saturday while Saudi Arabia takes on group leader Japan.
Earlier, the Indian team suffered a 0-3 defeat against hosts Thailand in the opening match of Group A.
Making their first appearance at the Beach Soccer Asian Cup since 2007, India began on a good note, holding the more fancied hosts goalless in an evenly-contested first period and creating a handful of chances. But ultimately, Thailand’s experience prevailed as they overpowered the Indians in the second and third periods, scoring in the 21st (Jake Stoten), 29th (Ratthaphong Nadee) and 33rd (Komkrit Nanan) minutes. A beach soccer match consists of three periods of 12 minutes each.
India will face Kuwait in the second match on Saturday. Kuwait went down 4-5 to Lebanon in their first game earlier in the day. The top two teams from the group will qualify for the quarter-finals.
–IANS
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