Team Melli lost 3-1 against Sweden in Solna’s Friends Arena in a friendly match.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic opened the scoring in the 11th minute with a header that Haghighi could not push of the line , Marcus Berg then increased the Swedish lead with a volley in the 21st minute from a header assist by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Team Melli then equalized through Javad Nekounam Penalty won by the fine run of Vahid Amiri. The first half ended 2-1 for the host.
In the second half , a hoard of changes in both teams changed the rhythm of the match. The closet Iran cam to equalizing is when Ghoochannejad hit the upright after a long throw in.
Sweden scored a late third goal from a header after Ola Toivonen was at the end of Seb Larsson a in the 89′ out jumping Jalal Hosseini and heading into Alireza Haghighi’s net,
Team Melli end its European Team with 1 win and a loss. It was the final match for the Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz in charge of the team.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic silences raucous Iran fans
to give Sweden 3-1 win
Sweden is home to more than 60,000 people who were born in Iran, and together with their children and grandchildren they packed the stands, outnumbering the Sweden fans and creating a cascading wall of noise for much of the match.
Ibrahimovic silenced them, albeit temporarily, when he gave Sweden the lead in the 11th minute.
His clever pass found Erkan Zengin, whose chipped return was powerfully headed home by the Sweden captain at the far post, despite the best efforts of Iran goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi to keep it out.
Zlatan turned provider 10 minutes later, heading Pierre Bengtsson‘s cross from the left back into the path of Marcus Berg, who swept home a deft first-time finish.
Minutes later the huge contingent of Iranian fans roared in delight as their team reduced the deficit via a penalty, with captain Javad Nekounam thumping home the spot kick after Vahid Amiri was brought down in the box by Andreas Granqvist.
Reza Ghoochannejhad came close to equalising early in the second half, bundling the ball past goalkeeper Robin Olsen only to see it come back off the foot of the post.
Iran coach Carlos Queiroz urged his charges on from the edge of the technical area, but Ola Toivonen put an end to their hopes with a towering header from Sebastian Larsson‘s cross just before fulltime.