Five-a-Side Team Reaches Final

Iran five-a-side football team will meet China in the final 2017 International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) Asia-Pacific Championships in Malaysia, December 9-18.

According to Varzesh3.com, in the semifinals Iran downed Thailand 4-3 in the penalties. China beat South Korea 6-0 to line up against Iran in the final game.

Besides reaching the finals, Iran also achieved the quota for the next World Championships to be held in Spain, June 17-25, 2018.

The IBSA Blind Football Asian Championships takes place at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, as the seventh edition of the biennial event.

First edition of the games was held in Vietnam, 2005. Japan won the first title of the tournament while China won four in row but was defeated by Iran in the previous games in Tokyo, in 2015.

Iran is going to defend the title against China, the most-awarded team in the history of the games.

Five-a-side football is a variation of association football in which each team fields five players (four outfield players and a goalkeeper). Other differences from football include a smaller pitch, smaller goals and reduced game duration. The game has to halves running for 25 minutes each with ten minutes interval.