Team Melli defeated Syriain a cesarean style after a penalty shootout in Doha, this evening in the last match of Round 16 stage of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023. The match ended 1-1 after extra time.
Team Melli was the much better side during the match and had over 70% of ball possession in the first half. Mehdi Taremi won a penalty in the 34th minute which he converted himself to score his third goal of the tournament.
However, despite the superiority in every department, the forwards wasted many chances to score. Taremi and Azmoun were guilty of some glaring misses. The second half was another. The turning point was right on the hour when a loose ball from the center towards Iran’s goal, was headed by Shoja’a Khalilzadeh right in the path of the Syrian winger Pablo Sabbagh in the 6-yard area. Beiranvand, rushing out to block Sabbagh, looked like he fouled him but the Korean referee called it a goal kick. VAR referee asked the the referee to review the footage after which he reversed his earlier decision and announced a penalty while awarding Beiranvand a yellow card for his reckless tackle.
Omer Khrbin easily dispatched the penalty to make it 1-1.
Team Melli’s profligacy continued after the Syrian equalizing goal as the players lost concentration. Mehdi Taremi was yellow-carded for one of his famous simulations in the Syrian penalty area. That card was to prove quite costly near the end of the match. Three other players got yellow-carded in that period.
The profligacy of Iranian players continued with many chances missed in front of the goal. Then came the final minute of the match during a Syrian counter-attack, where a Syrian winger, dribbled past the defense and was heading towards the goal. Mehdi Taremi grabbed the player and fouled him, giving the Korean referee no choice but to award Taremi the second yellow and subsequently, the Porto player got his marching order. Team Melli played 10 minutes of added time plus the 30 extra minutes with one man down.
Despite the extra man, Syrial hardly created any serious threats on Beiranvand’s goal, while Ansarifard and Mohebbi made life difficult for the Syrian backs and the Keeper in extra time.
In the penalty kicks, Alireza Beiranvand redeemed himself and saved a penalty while all the Iranian players scored theirs.
Iran will meet Japan in the quarter-finals of the AFC Asian Cup 2023.
PENALTY KICKS
IRAN SYRIA
K. Ansarifard 1 – 0 1 – 1 Pablo Sabbag
R. Rezaeian 2 – 1 2 – 1 Fahd Youssef X
O. Ebrahimi 3 – 1 3 – 2 Aiham Ousou
M. Torabi 4 – 2 4 – 3 Alaa Al Dali
E. Hajisafi 5 – 3