Coach
Iran : Nasser Ebrahimi (Iran)
Kuwait:
Penalty takers
AL DAKHIL, SUWAYYED, MUBARAK, JUMAA (KWI) HAJILOO,DARAKHSHAN,AHADI
IRAN arrived. saw the spoils of victory but failed to conquer — despite their exuberance and dynamism on the field and their reputation as strong contenders.
Last night. they walked away from the National Stadium dejected. with nothing to show for all their effort, Iran. however, left local fans with a vivid impression of their skills. Arguably, they were the best team ¡n the tournament.
But as fate had It, they had to bow out 3-5 on penalty kicks in their match for third place against Kuwait last night. The full-time score was 1-1.
Iran were in command from the start but found themselves trailing because of Mo’ayyad Al Haddad's goal for Kuwait In the 27th minute.
A moment of complacency led to the deficit. The Iranians ‘had three men surrounding Mo’ayyad in the penalty box but, somehow, they allowed him to squeeze his way past before slotting it into the net.
Perhaps the goal was what they needed to spur them into action. They peppered the Kuwaiti goalmouth but could not hit home before the interval.
In the 83rd minute. the Iranians got their lucky break. Abdolali Changiz received a beautiful pass from midfield. swerved his body to
the right, beat a defender, and then crossed it again past the face of the post.
Iran's Sharoukh Bayani was a second too late to meet the cross, but fortunately there was Nasser Mohammadkhan on the far right to blast it home.
With full time , it was left to the mandatory five penalty kicks to settle the issue. While Kuwait slotted in all of their attempts Iran only managed three in. |