Coaches:
Iran Carlos Queiroz (Portugal)
Qatar: Djemal Belmadi (Algeria)
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Sydney: Sardar Azmoun’s individual brilliance ensured Iran and the United Arab Emirates will meet in Brisbane on Monday to determine who will claim top spot in Group C of the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 after Carlos Queiroz’s side defeated Qatar 1-0 at Stadium Australia on Thursday evening.
The 20-year-old Rubin Kazan striker further enhanced his already strong reputation with a turn that bamboozled the Qatar defence before slotting the ball past Qasem Burhan to score one of the goals of the tournament so far.
The 52nd minute effort was greeted with raucous relief by the thousands of Iranian fans in the Sydney suburbs, who had created a carnival atmosphere at Stadium Australia from the moment the teams entered the field.
The result means the 2014 Gulf Cup champions are out of the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 having previously lost their opening game 4-1 against the United Arab Emirates.
Belmadi looks toward future
A crowd of 22,672 travelled out to Stadium Australia, with the vast majority backing Iran and turning the iconic venue into a mini Azadi Stadium and, for the opening quarter of the game, the atmosphere was more noteworthy than the play on display as both sides battled for supremacy in midfield.
It was the Iranians who steadily took control and by the end of the half Queiroz’s team will have been disappointed not to have been in front. Ashkan Dejagah stumbled his way past Abdelkarim Hassan before pulling the ball back for Masoud Shojaei, but the ball was cleared before the former Osasuna striker could pull the trigger.
Shojaei was involved again five minutes from the break as Iran continued to press, only this time his effort was deflected wide for a corner that Andranik Teymourian swung towards the penalty spot before Morteza Pouraliganji’s header was cleared off the line by Ahmed Mohamed El Sayed.
Queiroz's kudos to Iran attacker Azmoun
Minutes later, Dejagah’s low shot-cum-cross flew across the face of goal with Ehsan Hajsafi just too slow to poke the ball across the line.
Seven minutes after the restart, though, Iran finally took the lead they deserved, with Azmoun’s moment of brilliance capping a fine move that featured tenacity and quality in equal measure.
Teymourian won the ball deep in the Qatari half before laying off to Dejagah and Azmoun spun around the Al Arabi striker’s ball into the centre before slipping the ball past Burhan to send the Iranian team into a bench-clearing celebration.
Azmoun, however, was not to finish the game, going off injured 10 minutes after his goal, and his replacement – Reza Ghoochannejhad – had ample opportunity to finish off the game.
On five occasions in the final quarter of the game the man on loan at Kuwait Sports Club from Charlton Athletic tried his luck, but each time he was unable to find a way past Burhan, but it mattered little as referee Ravshan Irmatov blew the whistle to send Iran into the quarter-finals for a sixth straight AFC Asian Cup. |