Team Melli lost the quarter finals match on penalty shootout against Iraq in a thrilling encounter at Brisbane Stadium.
Iran took the lead through Sardar Azamoun from a powerful header of a cross provided by Vouriya Ghafoori on minute 24. to make it 1 – 0 for Iran.
Iraq equalized on 56th minute from Ahmed Yasin after Iran defense failed to clear and the ball hit Pouraliganji into the net. The matches ended 1-1 for extra time to be played.
The Captain of Iraq Younis Mahmoud made it 1 – 2 for his team on minute 93′ . Morteza Pouraliganji on minute 103′ scored from an Ando Teymourian corner kick to make it.2 – 2
While the match was on its final minutes, Morteza Pouraliganji who was the hero of Iran made a gross error and fouled Iraq forward for the referee to call a penalty which was dispatched by the 20 years old Iraqi defender Dhurgham Ismail (116 minute.)
And then the grand finale came when Reza Ghoochannejhad scored with one minute left to make it 3 – 3
The two players who missed penalties of Iran were Hajsafi and Vahid Amiri,
The first controversy of the match was the appointment of the whistle-happy Australian referee for the match. He was the referee of the first match of Iran in the AFC Asian Cup which Iran won 2-0 but so some crucial errors by the Australian which lead Queiroz to publicly complain about this referee. For expressing his views , AFC slapped an US$ 3000 fine on Queiroz which the Portuguese coach rejected as harsh and uncalled for.
Appointing the same referee for a crucial match was an indicative of a juvenile delinquency by the AFC and the organizers. Instead of trying to steer away from controversy , the AFC has fallen into it either by pure ignorance or by blatant intent and in an up your nose attitude towards Queiroz and Iran!
The controversial Ben Williams lasted for 42 minutes before he was on the act justifying earlier complaints against him. The referee awarded Mehrdad Pooladi a second yellow card right towards the end of the half for an innocuous challenge on Iraqi goalkeeper who made a theatrical scene and pushed Pooladi to the ground.
The feeble referee reacted to Iraqi players protests and awarded Pooladi a second yellow and then walked away. He was not aware that Pooladi was already on a yellow until the Iraqi players dragged him back to remind him.
Williams have a long sheet of controversial , poor decision-making and being conned by players. He is a poor choice for a referee at international level but being an Australian , and the tournament is in Australia, it is obvious that his sub-standard refereeing will be forgiven.
The penalty loss spells the end of Iran’s participation in the Asian Cup. It is the third time in a row that Team Melli is eliminated in the Quarter finals of the competition in extra time or penalty kicks.