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09.February.2005 at 00:00
World Cup Qualifier
Manama
Attendance : 30000
Referee: SUBKHIDDIN Mohammed Saleh - Malaysia
Opponent Confederation: AFC
Bahrain
0 - 0
Iran
Referee: SUBKHIDDIN Mohammed Saleh - Malaysia World Cup Qualifier-match

Goalscorers
None None.
Opening Line-up
ALI Hassan (GK)
BABA Hussain Ali Hassan
AL DOWSARI Rashid Abdulrahman
GHULOOM Salman Isa
AL MARZOOQI  Abdulla
AL MAHFOODH Sayed Adnan
AL WEDAEI Sayed Mahmood Jalal
SALMEEN Mohamed Ahmed
MOHAMED Talal Yousif
ABDULLA Duaij Nasser
AL HUBAIL Mohammed Ahmad
Ebrahim MIRZAPOUR
Yahya GOLMOHAMMADI
Mohammad NOSRATI
Rahman REZAEI
Mehdi MAHDAVIKIA
Hossein KAEBI
Fereydoon ZANDI
Javad NEKOUNAM
Mohammad Ali KARIMI
Ali DAEI
Vahid HASHEMIAN
Bench
AHMED Husain Ali Moharam NAVIDKIA
Iman MOBALI
Substitutions
AHMED Husain Ali ->ABDULLA Duaij Nasser 86' Moharam NAVIDKIA -> Fereydoon ZANDI (62)
Iman MOBALI -> Vahid HASHEMIAN (86)
Yellow cards
None Rahman REZAEI (34)
Red cards
None None.
Match report
coaches:
Bahrain: Srecko Juricic (CRO)
Iran: Branco Ivankovic (CRO)


Stalemate at Manama
Bahrain 0-0 Iran


BAHRAIN were held to a goalless draw by Iran in their opening Group B match of the 2006 World Cup second qualifying round at the National Stadium. Playing in front of a capacity crowd of 30,000 cheering spectators

The thick humidity at Bahrain National Stadium at Manama didn’t prevent the two sides putting on a relentless show, though it was a hard-fought rather than entertaining game. Despite the absence of Aala Hubail, top scorer with five goals in last year’s Asian Cup, host team Bahrain again proved they were equal to a star-studded Iran after holding the Persians to a goalless draw.


This draw left group top seeds Japan sitting on top of group B after the opening round, while coach Branko Ivankovic’s much fancied side will have a more difficult assignment when they host Japan in Teheran on March 25th. With the talismanic Ali Daei, mercurial Ali Karimi and Bayern Munich forward, Vahid “Helicopter” Hashemian up front, Iran had best of the early play and attacked from start to finish. But always keeping five players behind the ball, well-organized Bahrain defended gallantly, and occasionally threatened Ebrahim Mirzapour’s goal when they broke.


After the early exchanges though Iran took the initiative, while Bahrain were reduced to long balls and shots from distance. Karimi’s dizzying dribbling beat two Bahrain defenders before he was fouled by Mahmood Jalal, but the resulting free kick was deflected over. Ebrahim Mirzapour was called into action on 28 minutes to display his reflexes. When a sudden rebound landed dangerously in Iran’s final third, Mirzapour flew out to snatch the loose ball. Two minutes before the break, Javad Nekounam unleashed a powerful drive that flew just wide.

Both sides upped the pace in the second half in search of the opener, but produced few good chances. Bahrain looked like they might have scored the only goal after 81 minutes, but Mohamed Hubail, brother of the absent Aala, fired a blistering shot into the side-netting.


"It was a very important match for us. But we missed a good chance of making a winning start," said Bahrain coach Srecko Juricic of Croatia.

"Such matches require great concentration and experience. It was a tactical game and our players played well. Bahrain created more scoring opportunities while Iran showed a good defence and I think the result is fair," added Juricic.

"I am quite satisfied with the overall performance of my players and look forward for our next match against North Korea for which we have a different strategy," added Juricic.

Iran's coach Branco Ivankovic , also of Croatia, said the match was very tough for both the teams.

"Bahrain is a strong team and we tried to find a way through their defence but it was not possible," said Branco.

"It was a very tense and dynamic match although both Bahraini and Iranian players managed to hold their nerve," added Branco.
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