Shenzhen: Iran outplayed Indonesia 3-0 in their opening AFC U20 Asian Cup™ China 2025 Group C match at the Shenzhen Youth Football Training Base Centre Stadium on Thursday.
Goals from Hesam Nafari, Esmaeil Gholizadeh and Mobin Dehghan placed the four-time champions in pole position with Uzbekistan, who beat Yemen 1-0 in the opening Group C match earlier.
Iran piled on the pressure from the first blow of the referee’s whistle and received dividends in the fifth minute when the ball bounced off defender Nafari in a packed penalty box and into the net.
They had another attempt at goal in the 18th minute but Amirmohammad Razaghinia’s header from point blank range was kept out by custodian Achmad Zidan Rosyid.
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An unmarked Reza Ghandipour then wasted a golden opportunity when he mistimed his bicycle kick in the 35th minute with only Zidan to beat.
Indonesia had their first real look at goal in the 39th minute when Toni Firmansyah’s fierce shot from outside the box had goalkeeper Arsha Shakouri at full stretch to prevent an equalizer.
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They continued with their offensive play after the break, with Jens Raven failing to connect to a well-placed cross from Marselinus Ola.
Marselinus could have equalized in the 57th minute when he evaded three defenders, only for the keeper’s outstretched leg to foil his close-range attempt.
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Iran found their second in the 63rd minute courtesy of Gholizadeh, who unleashed a spectacular volley from a floating Nima Andarz cross that flew past a diving Zidan.
A Gholizadeh corner in the 70th minute saw midfielder Dehghan out-jumping the Indonesian defence to head home IR Iran’s third from close quarters.
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Iran will look for their second win when they meet Yemen on Matchday 2 while Indonesia will take on Uzbekistan, with both ties to be contested on Sunday.
MATCH STATS
| Iran Hesam Nafari, Esmaeil Gholizadeh and Mobin Dehghan | 3 | – | 0 | Indonesia |
| Iran 1 Arsha ShakouriGK 3 Hesam Nafari 5 Erfan Darvish Aali 7 Esmaeil Gholizadeh 8 Amirmohammad Razzaghinia 9. Yaghoub Barajeh 10 Reza Ghandipour 11 Mahan Sadeghi 15 Mobin Dehghan 17 Mohammad Dindar 18 Abolfazl Zoleikhaei Substitutes: 2 Nima Andarz 58’ ->Razzaghinia 6 S. Hoboobati 81’ -> Sadeghi 16 A. Zamani 58’ -> Dindar 19P. Shahrabadi 87’ -> Ghandipour 20 Y. Mazraeh 81’ -> Dehghan Manager-Hossein Abdi | Indonesia 23 I. Al Giffari GK 3 A. Zidan 52’ MF 4 K. Arel DF 5 A. Buffon DF 7 A. Abdulmanan 46’MF 9 J. Raven 86’FW 10 W. Jardim 79’MF 16 D. PamungkasDF 18 T. FirmansyahMF 19 M. Ragil 79’MF 21 I. GwijanggeDF Substitutes 6 E. Florasta 79’Sub 11 J. Pahlevi 86’Sub 12 F. Bagus 52’Sub 15 M. Ola 46’Sub 20 A. Rahman 79’Sub Manager-Indra Sjafri |
