Late drama keep Iran in the mix

Do not write off lion’s heart

Sports Desk - IRAN DAILY

Rouzbeh Cheshmi and Ramin Rezaeian bagged a couple of goals deep into stoppage time as Iran walked away with a 2-0 victory over Wales in Group B of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The result – only a third win for Iran in the history of the competition – saw Iran bounce back from a first-day debacle against England in style and stay well in contention for a historic place in the last-16 round.

Iran head coach Carlos Queiroz made five changes to the side that started the group opener, with Seyyed Hossein Hosseini, who replaced Alireza Beiranvand midway through the first half against England, named between the posts.

Rezaeian, Ali Qolizadeh, Sardar Azmoun, and Saeed Ezzatollahi also walked out of the tunnel for the kickoff as Cheshmi, Sadeq Moharrami, Ali Karimi, and Alireza Jahanbakhsh were benched for the encounter against Gareth Bale and co.

Iran manager also made a U-turn on his ill-fated 5-4-1 formation in the first game, fielding a regular back four with three men in the middle of the pitch, with Mehdi Taremi and Qolizadeh playing alongside lone striker Azmoun up front.

Perhaps the most significant change for Iran came in the attitude and approach as Queiroz’s men, who knew anything other than maximum points would have all but finished their quest for progress, started right on the front foot.

Iranians thought they were rewarded for the brave performance after 15 minutes, when Qolizadeh tapped in from close range, only to see his goal chalked off for offside after a VAR review.

Kieffer Moore went close on the other side of the pitch minutes later but Iranian keeper Hosseini stood firm to keep out Welshman’s effort from the edge of the six-yard box.

Unlucky to head into the break empty-handed, a revitalized Iran side started the second half where it left off before the interval and came within inches of breaking the deadlock in the 52nd minute when Azmoun and Qolizadeh were denied by the woodwork in the space of a few seconds.

Ezzatollahi swept a low drive toward the far corner in the 73nd minute but Welsh goalie Wayne Hennessey did a great job to fingertip it round the post.

A VAR interruption sparked a late drama to the game as Hennessey received his marching orders for a foul on Taremi outside the box with four minutes from normal time, having initially been shown a yellow card by Guatemalan referee Mario Escobar.

Iranian players relentlessly pushed for a late winner and their efforts paid dividends right at the death.

Substitute Cheshmi unleashed a sizzling effort from 20 yards out which nestled in the bottom-right corner in the eighth minute of added time, sending the Iranian camp and supporters into a frenzy at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.

That was not the end of the fairy tale for Iran as Rezaeian finished off a counterattack with a sublime lob over substitute keeper Danny Ward to secure the points for Iran, which kept a clean sheet in the World Cup finals for only a third time in six participations.

Next for Queiroz and his men will be a battle against USA on Tuesday, November 29 – the 25th anniversary of the memorable aggregate victory over Australia which saw Iran qualify for the 1998 World Cup in France.