Iran Retains WAFF Title

AMMAN - Ten men Iran retained their WAFF Championship title after beating Iraq 2-1 in the final of the tournament on Sunday.

Two first half goals from Hossein Badamaki and Hashem Beykzadeh gave Iran a 2-0 lead by the end of the first half while Iraq only goal came four minutes before the end through Saleh Sadir from a spot kick.

Despite the huge support for the Iraqi fans at Amman International stadium, Jorvan Vieira's men had a slow start in the game and they were stunned after nine minutes when Iran opened the scoring.

Striker Mahdi Rajabzadeh made good work on the left flank before sending a pass to his strike partner Hossein Badamaki who edged Haiedar Abdulrazzaq before scoring with a powerful drive at the top of the net.

The Iranians rubbed more salt into Iraq wounds after they doubled the advantage in the 21st minute when Hashem Beykzadeh unleashed a stunning drive from 30-yards out which slammed the hand of Iraq goalkeeper Noor Sabri and went into the net.

Iran thought that they sealed the match in the 34th minute after a good work from Rajabzadeh who edged two Iraq defenders before putting Hossein Badamaki into a one-on-one position with the goalkeeper but despite edging Sabri, Badamaki couldn't score after losing control on the ball.

Iraq only chance was five minutes before the break when Younes Mahmoud beat Iran's defender Mojtaba Shiri with a skillful trick before shooting from inside the area but Rodbarian cleared the ball to a corner as Iran finished the first half with a 2-0 lead.

As they had no options other but to score, Iraq went into the attack at the start of the second half and they nearly pulled a goal back in the 55th minute through Younes Mahmoud who had only the goalkeeper to beat after a nice chip from Nashat Akram but Hassan Rodbarian saved the ball.

In the 61st minute, Iran were reduced to ten men when midfielder Iman Mobali, one of other seven players from Iran's Asian Cup squad who played the game, was sent off after receiving his second bookable offence.

Iraq tried to take advantage of their numerical superiority and they introduced fresh blood into the game as Hawar Mulla Mohammed, Saleh Sadir and Karrar Jassim came off the bench.

The move brought some life to the Iraqis and they should have scored in the 68th minute when Hawar Mulla Mohammed crossed inside the area but the header of Saleh Sadir missed the target while five minutes later, the two midfielders worked together as Sadir went inside the area but his shot was blocked by the unbeatable Rodbarian.

The long awaited goal came just four minutes from the end when Karrar Jassim sent a cross from the left which was handed by an Iranian defender and the Lebanese referee pointed to the spot as Saleh Sadir reduced the deficit from the penalty kick.

Iraq could have leveled the scores in the 90th minute when Nashat Akram sent a free kick inside the area to the head of Younes Mahmoud but Rodbarian cleared the ball to a corner in what was the last action in the game as Iran retained their title.