Coach: Branko Ivankovic (Croatia)
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BEIJING - Two goals from skipper Ali Daei steered Iran to a 4-2 win over Bahrain in a tempestuous third-place playoff that saw three players receive their marching orders.
Iran, who were already without the suspended Mohammad Nosrati, Sattar Zare and Sayyed Mohammad Alavi, were dealt yet another suspension blow when the AFC's Disciplinary Committee, who met less than ten hours before the match kicked-off, handed defender Ebrahim Taghipour a six-month ban for incidents relating to Zob Ahan's 2-0 loss to Pakhtakor in the AFC Champions League in May.
Iran's threadbare defence was put under pressure as early as the first minute when goalkeeper Ebrahim Mirzapour had to look sharp to prevent Salman Isa's mishit cross creeping in at his near post.
A moment of carelessness in the Bahrain rearguard allowed Javad Nekounam to give Iran the lead eight minutes later.
A slack back pass found its way to Ali Daei and the Iran skipper spun around Mohammed Husain to create a scoring opportunity. But before he could get a shot off, Nekounam burst through, striking the ball almost off the foot of Daei and past Bahrain goalkeeper Abdulrahman Abdulkarim, who was making his first appearance in the tournament.
Speculative efforts from reigning AFC Player of the Year Mehdi Mahdavikia for Iran and Bahrain's Talal Yusuf, were the only other times either goalkeeper had to make a save in a tepid first half that was punctuated with yellow cards Hossein Kaebi, Jalal Kameli (both Iran) and Sayed Mohamed for Bahrain.
The match sparked to life in the second half as the goals started to flow and Kameli was again involved in the thick of things when Bahrain equalized three minutes after the interval.
The Foulad defender and Yahya Golmohammady combined to foul the skilful Mohammed Salmeen as the Bahrain midfielder tried to weave his way towards the Iranian penalty box. Talal Yusuf swerved the resulting free-kick into the top right of Mirzapour's goal.
Parity was to last just four minutes when Ali Karimi got on the end of a delightfully weighted ball from Mahdavikia to lob Iran into a 2-1 lead with his fifth goal of the tournament, which put him neck-and-neck with Bahrain's Alaa Hubail at the top of the China 2004 scoring charts.
Daei looked to have extended Iran's advantage when he bundled the ball in from close range after Abdulkarim had spilled a firm shot from second half substitute Arash Borhani.
However, the goal was chalked off by UAE referee Fareed Al Marzouqi following a foul on a Bahraini defender.
Bahrain levelled for a second time in the match in the 57th minute through Saleh Farhan. The 23-year-old Rifa midfielder reacted sharply when Mirzapour palmed Duaij Nasser's header onto the crossbar to score from close range.
Iran were reduced to 10 men with 28 minutes left to play when Borhani, with the 20-year-old Pas forward getting his marching orders for a wild lunge.
Despite their numerical disadvantage, Iran retook the lead through an 80th minute Daei penalty, awarded after Karimi had been upended in the box by Abdulkarim after waltzing past two Bahrain defenders.
With the final whistle approaching, Daei secured the win when he drilled home a superb cut-back from Mahdavikia but the action didn't end there.
Deep into injury time, Talal Yusuf's cynical hack on Daei enraged Mahdavikia who made his feelings on the challenge clear to the Bahrain midfielder. The confrontation was the catalyst for some ugly scenes as players from both sides came to blows.
When the dust had settled, red cards were flashed to both Yusuf and Mahdavikia, who became the fourth Iranian to have been sent off at the Asian Cup 2004. |