by Luke Costin
MELBOURNE, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) — Any scout in the world not aware of Sardar Azmoun should be now after “Iran‘s Messi” delicately scored the winner over Qatar in Sydney on Thursday.
Sardar cleverly drew a defender before dragging a low cross under himself and sealing Iran’s 1-0 win and qualification for the knockout stage.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iran’s next opponent, scored a goal within 15 seconds on their way to sealing their quarter-final berth over Bahrain in Canberra.
Sardar, having run just past the low cross from the right field, stuck out his right leg to flick the ball under himself. He made no mistake with his second touch sending the mostly-Iranian crowd wild.
The 20-year-old has been linked with English powerhouses Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham in the current January transfer window, and based on this form, his Russian club, Rubin Kazan, may get another few pounds from a transfer of their young star.
Three minutes in, Sardar had already shown Asia why he has been compared to the three-time World Player of the Year with a delightful header that narrowly missed its target.
The only blemish in Sardar’s performance was something partially out of his control.
Acute cramp struck Sardar down on the hour and forced an early substitution.
It showed that, perhaps, playing in Russia had left him under- conditioned for the Australian warmth.
Qatar’s goalkeeper Qasem Burhan, coming off a 4-1 loss to UAE, was clearly low on confidence and often found himself lucky not to concede earlier than the 52nd minute.
Not 60 seconds after the break, an Irani corner drew Qasem into “no-man’s land,” but resulting strike missing an open goal.
Desperate defending from the Maroons was necessary throughout as Iran peppered the goal with plenty of near chances.
Morteza Pouraliganji flew in over the top to meet a corner kick sweetly in the first half, only to beat the unguarded right post.
Minutes later, Ashkan Dejagah had a speculative crack from wide in the area that zipped past the goal, barely missing the far post.
Those in the stadium commended Iran’s frenetic fans for making the 22,672 crowd feel closer to 100,000.
Earlier in nation’s capital, the Emirates took just 14 seconds to puncture the Bahraini defenses and kick-start their 2-1 win.
A shocking defensive error from the kick-off led to Omar Abdulrahman delivering a pinpoint ball to Ali Mabkhout, who put away his third goal of the tournament.
Jaycee John Okwunwanne equalized in the 26th minute but it was his captain Mohamed Hussain’s own-goal header that was the decider.
UAE produced their best chances from free kicks including the pieces and, through some luck, scored in the 73rd.
From a free kick in left field, Hussain rose highest, only for his errant clearance to find the top corner of his own net.
Straight after the kick-off, right back Abdulla Omar took on the Emirati midfielders only to give the ball up to his Emirati namesake.
A sublime lofted through ball from Omar to Mabkhout allowed the tournament’s leading goal scorer the time to run around the goalkeeper.
Nigerian-born Okwunwanne’s one goal, from a perfect corner kick by Faouzi Aaish, so easily could have been a brace just three minutes later.
But it was not to be, his powerful header denied by an aware keeper.
Bahraini center-back Mohamed Duraj may miss the dead rubber against Qatar after painfully pulling a groin and being stretchered off midway through the second half.
UAE’s superior goal difference means Iran needs a win in Brisbane on Monday to steal top spot and potentially avoid the reigning champions, Japan, in the quarter-finals.