Iran, Croatia share points in futsal friendly match

Iran men’s national futsal team has tied with Croatia in a friendly fixture staged as part of preparations for the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, which are scheduled to be held in Turkmenistan later this year.

In a match held in the southern Croatian city of Dubrovnik on Tuesday evening, both teams did not put in an impressive performance for much of the time, and the scrimmage ended in a 1-1 draw.

The Croatia national futsal team, nicknamed Vatreni (The Blazers), had defeated the Iranian team 4-2 in an exhibition game the previous day.

The Iranian men’s national futsal team is getting ready for the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, which is also counted as the 5th Asian Indoor Games.

The games will open in the Turkmen capital city of Ashgabat on September 17, and will close on September 27.

According to the latest monthly classification published by the Asociación Mundial de Futsal (AMF), which is the governing body of futsal, the Iranian squad has preserved its position as Asia’s best and stayed put in the sixth place of the world’s overall standings. Team Melli Futsal earned 1,595 points.

Kazakhstan maintained the 9th slot in the latest AMF rankings with 1,451 points. The Central Asians are followed by Thais and the Japanese, who have claimed the 15th and 16th places respectively with 1,360 and 1,358 points.

Brazil is the top-ranked futsal team in the world with 1,916 points. Spaniards notched up 1,889 points to sit in the second position, while third-placed Russians kept their position with 1,763 points. Argentina collected 1,706 points to stand fourth.

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