Ali Daei started with the same team line-up which played in the 1-0 victory against UAE a week ago. Teymourian was benched in favor of Sadeghi and Zandi. While the Syrian coach Mohhmed Quaidh , despite his pre-match announcement that major changes in team line-up will be carried out after their disappointing 2-4 defeat in Kuwait , basically stuck with the same players.
Quaidh , desperate to get a positive result from this match , employed a close marking , man-to-man game plan , while depending on the fast and mobile Syrian forwards to get the needed goals. Syria enjoyed more possession in the first half and created a few scoring opportunities , however, the most clear chance was the one-to-one opportunity by Atef Jenayat who received a deflected ball after a poor clearance by the Iranian defense. Mehdi Rahmati closed in the Syrian forward and blocked the shot to save Iran. The second close scoring chance was in fact created by Hadi Aghili whose miss kick while trying to clear a loose ball, hit his own cross bar and deflected to a corner. Syrian all out attack was cleverly dealt with by Iran as the Syrians suffered from lack of concentration and haste while building their offensive moves.
In
the second half, the picture changed completely.
Ali Daei, after being satisfied
with the first half outcome and containment of the Syrian forwards,
employed an attacking game plan. In the early minutes of the second half
Iran could have been easily a goal in front but for the heroics of
Syrian keeper Misa'ab Balhows who prevented the visitors from taking the
lead.
Team Melli elevated their game and had took control in
the second half building offensive moves with the manipulation of the
midfield orchestrated by the in-form Javad Nekounnam and by the skillful
forward penetrations of Masoud Shojaei. Nekounam
, for the second match running , proved that he is a key player and
quickly returning to form.
The Osasuna midfielder who has returned back after a long spell of injury , performed some immaculate touches and timely interception of Syrian midfield players passes , ensured that the supply line to the Syrian forwards are killed pre-maturely in the middle of the field while starting counter attacking moves for his teammates.
It was only a matter of time for the Iranians to confirm their supramacy and go into the lead .
Ali Daei’s men broke the deadlock after an hour. Gholamreza Rezaei beat three Syrian defenders in a tight space before firing past Misa'ab Balhows in the Syrian goal.
Iran sealed the win in injury time through Mohsen Khalili affter a clever pass from substitute Mojtaba Jabbari to the unmarked Mohsen Khalil who lobbed the ball over the advancing Syrian keeper body for his first official international goal for Team Melli.
The match was interrupted momentarily near the end of the game as the Syrian fans threw objects on the pitch. The Thai referee stopped the match until the security forces ensured the safety of the players and the linesman , who was targeted by the angry Syrian fans.
Despite the anxiousness of the fans due to the 3 consecutive draws in the qualification, Team Melli managed to qualify with one match in hand. Syria faces United Arab Emirates on June 22 in a game they must win to have a chance of joining Iran in the final round. In the other match of this group UAE managed to defeat Kuwait 3-2 with a late goal.
It was Team Melli’s second successive win after a slow start in Group Five, a week after defeating UAE team in Al Ain to maintain the top spot in the group of FIFA World Cup 2010 qualification rounds.
Coach Ali Daei was satisfied to see Iran seal their passage into the final round of qualifying for the World Cup thanks to a 2-0 victory over Syria at Al Abbasiyyin Stadium.
Gholamreza Rezaei gave the visitors a 64th minute lead before Mohsen Khalili put the result beyond doubt deep into stoppage time.
“We achieved what we came here to do and we got the three points which sealed our place in the next round," he said.
"Syria were the better side in the first half and they had some chances while we had the upper hand in the second period.
"After our win tonight, we will go into our last game under no pressure and we must try our best to win at home, especially as we were held to two draws in our previous home matches with Syria and UAE.
"Syria played well tonight and they can beat UAE in their last match."
Syria need to overcome UAE by three goals in their final game in Abu Dhabi to accompany Iran into the final phase.
"The midfield played badly and this gave Iran an advantage that allowed them to control the game and score two goals,” Al Salou said.
"In the first half we were unlucky and we missed a lot of chances that could have changed the game and given us the advantage.
"In the second half, Iran played better than us and they scored the opening goal from a defensive mistake.
"Regardless of the result, we still have a slim chance to go through and we are going to hold on to that in the last game against UAE.