Iran defeats Denmark in Carlsberg Cup

In an evenly matched encounter , Denmark and Iran both played well during the match at Hong Kong Stadium.

The Danes had a chance to score in the first half when they were awarded a penalty kick after Iran's Jalal Kameli Morfrad picked up the ball thinking that the whistle had blown for the break.

It turned out that the whistle was apparently blown by a spectator and not by the referee.

The Iranians protested to no avail. But their anger subsided when, in a sporting gesture, Denmark's coach Morten Olsen told captain Morten Weighorst to deliberately kick the penalty wide of the Iranian goal.

The Iranians took the lead when they were awarded a penalty kick in the 47th minute after Denmark's Asbjorn Sennels fouled Hoosein Kabel.

Nekounam scored the penalty with ease.

One of the World Cup veterans, Khodadad Azizi made his first appearance for Iran after many years away from the national team. His performance was probably one of the best amongst a changed Iranian team without their regulars including Daei and Karimi. Azizi delicate touches ,  skillful and crowd pleasing dribbling was met by ovation from the crowd in Hong Kong stadium.  

Iran's team was mainly based on their Olympic Team which recently won the Gold Medal in the Asian games in Busan. Homayoun Shahroukhi, the interim coach who is filling the gap after the departure of the Croat Ivankovic, was pleased with his first match at the helm.

Denmark's coach Olsen said the decision not to score the penalty against Iran in the first half was a "fair one."

"We had our chances and it's our fault that we lost the match," he added.

Iran's coach Homayoun Shahrokhinejad said the Danes "put us under great pressure and we are happy to win."

Lineups:

Denmark: Peter Lind Jensen; Martin Albrechsten, Kaspar Dalgas, Rasmus Daugaard Hansen (Michael Hansen 80th), Lars Mads Jorgensen (Nichlas Hindsberg 73rd), Soren Berg Andersen (David Rasmussen 80th), Brian Priske Pedersen, Thomas Roll Larsen, Thomas Schultz, Asbjorn Sennels, Morten Wieghorst.

Iran: Ebrahim Mirzapour; Yahya Golmohammadali, Javad Nekounam, Hamed Kavianpour (Yadollah Akbariborjlo, 69th), Alireza Vahdi Nikbnakht, Ali Samereh (Amin Mohtashami 71st), Khodadad Aziz (Mehrdad Minavandchal 83rd), Hossein Kabei, Moharram, Jalal Kameli Mofrad, Mohammad Nosrati.

HONG KONG, Feb 1 (AFP) - Denmark proved there was nothing rotten with the state of their sportsmanship on Saturday as their captain shunned a penalty during the 1-0 loss to Iran in the Carlsberg Cup here on Saturday.

Captain Morten Wieghorst deliberately kicked wide a penalty awarded to his team just on half-time after an Iranian defender had picked up the ball on hearing a whistle from the crowd at the Hong Kong Stadium.

The referee immediately pointed to the penalty spot. But in a brave display of sportsmanship, Wieghorst, only leading the team for the second time, kicked the ball wide, much to the appreciation of the Iranian players and the large crowd ushering in the Chinese Year of the Goat.

"It was unfair to try and capitalise on that. The Iranian player had no idea what had happened. It was unfortunate that he picked the ball up and in such circumstances it was difficult for me to kick a penalty," said Wieghorst, who plays for Danish champions Brondby.

"It was fair play by our captain. He didn´t want to take that goal and well done to him," applauded Danish coach Morten Olsen afterwards.

Denmark shortly went behind, Javad Nekounam converting three minutes into the second half after winger Hossein Kabei was hacked down with a two-footed lunge by Asbjorn Sennels inside the area.

Nekounam struck a low shot into the left-hand corner of the net to give his side a 1-0 lead. Iran then defended for the rest of the half with only striker Khodadad Azizi up front.

Denmark clearly had the best of the first half and came close to scoring on a number of occasions. Forward Soren Berg was just wide of the mark with a couple of headers while Thomas Larsen also missed in the 13th minute, when he hit a volley wide, and was denied by Iranian goalkeeper Ebrahim Mirzapour in the 30 minute.

"We were under pressure for most of the match. It is satisfying to beat a team like Denmark and be in the final. Our expectations are high," said Iran´s caretaker coach Homayoun Shahrokhi.

Denmark came close to levelling the scores in the second half. But Iranian goalie Mirzapour pulled off a number of good saves to give his side a good start to the four-team tournament that also includes Uruguay and a Hong Kong League XI.

"We came here to win the Cup. But it is our fault that we are not in the final. We had our chances and we did not take it," added a disappointed Olsen.
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Danish football team to Bangkok, Hong Kong in January

By Gregers Moller

A football team of selected top players from Denmark will come to Thailand to fight against the Thai national football team in Bangkok in a training match on 29 January. The team has previously played in Bangkok in 1988, 1996 and 1998. Last time, the Danish team participated in the King’s Cup, where the Danes were up against the Thai national tam twice. The Danes eventually won the third place in the tournament, but this year’s match is organized only as a training match. The King’s Cup takes place a few weeks later with Swedish participation this year.
     As one of the main sponsors of the team, Arla Foods will take the opportunity to promote LURPAK, the famous Danish butter brand further in Thailand, says Arla Foods new regional manager Lars Moller Henriksen.
 
Complete list of players going to Bangkok and Hong Kong in January 2003:
Peter Skov-Jensen
Jimmy Nielsen
Martin Albrechtsen
Rasmus Daugaard
Allan K. Jepsen
Per Nielsen
Brian Priske
Michael Hansen
Thomas R๘ll Larsen
Kenneth M๘ller Pedersen
David Rasmussen
Asbj๘rn Sennels
Nicolai Stokholm
Morten Wieghorst
Kasper Dalgas
Niclas Hindsberg
Mads Jorgensen
Michael Johansen
Peter Madsen
Thomas Schultz

     From Bangkok, the team will continue to Hong Kong where they are playing on Saturday 1 February and Tuesday 4. February. These matches will be played against either the local HK team, Uruguay or Iran who are both participating in the annual Carlsberg Cup  Last time the Danish team was in Hong Kong was in 1994, where the Danes beat the host nation in the Carlsberg Cup 2-0.
    The Danish team will on this years tour be headed by the national Danish football coach Morten Olsen. He announced the composition of this year’s team shortly before Christmas.
    From the Danish club Brondby, the defense players Morten Wieghorst and Per Nielsen are both on the team. For Morten Wieghorst its his first time on the special team. But he is by far the most experienced player with a record of 19 matches on the national Danish football team. Per Nielsen has previously played six matches on the special team, called Ligalandsholdet in Danish, but during the matches in Bangkok in 1998 he was injured and couldn't play.
    Other players are Mats Jorgensen, Peter Madsen and Kasper Dalgas who have all previously played on the ligalandshold as well and the first two have likewise played on the Danish national team.
    From the football club Aab, Brian Priske is on the team for the third consecutive year. In 2000 he played on the team in La Manga in Spain and in 2001 in Dubai. Jimmy Nielsen has also played three times before on the team while Allan K. Jepsen has played on the team once in March 2002.
    Michael Johansen was on the team when it played in Hong Kong in 1994 and in Canada the following year. First timers are Nicolai Stokholm and Rasmus Daugaard.
    ”The most important purpose of the tour is to give the players more international experience and it it therefore of less importance, which teams we will be up against. But all the teams we are going to meet represent different interesting challenges for us,” Morten Olsen said when announcing the composition of this year’s team.
 

One of the this year's Carlsberg Cup is reigning Asian Games champions Iran, making their first appearance at the Carlsberg Cup since a second runner-up performance in 1996. The team's gold-medal performance at the 2002 Asian Games in Pusan, Korea makes Iran the only nation to have ever won back-to-back Asian Games gold medals in football.

In Pusan, Iran defeated World Cup semi-finalists Korea in the semi-finals and World Cup co-hosts and quarter-finalists Japan in the final, with a five goal to three tally in a penalty shoot-out after full time. Iran are currently ranked 33rd in the FIFA World Rankings, and will be looking to their in-form strikers Ali Daei and Ali Karimi, and the tactical nous of midfielders Karim Bagheri and Hossein Kaabi to take them higher.

Earlier this year, Iran won the 2002 LG CUP played in Tehran, overcoming Paraguay in the final. Iran's most recent experience against their Carlsberg Cup competition came three years ago when the team traveled to play Denmark in Copenhagen, finishing with a highly respectable scoreless draw. A talented and disciplined team, the Iranians come to Hong Kong with a momentum which they hope will continue in the Carlsberg Cup.