Iran coach Carlos Queiroz let rip at Bahrain for their “dangerous” tackling after his side won a tempestuous Asian Cup clash 2-0 on Sunday.
The Portuguese accused Australian referee Ben Williams of failing to control the Group C match in Melbourne.
“I was not happy because after nine, 10, 12 fouls, stopping the game systematically. The referee must take action,” Queiroz said.
“There were some aerial duels where especially their No 12 [Faouzi Aaish] elbowed my players and, as you know, the elbow is very dangerous.”
Ehsan Hajsafi’s volley in first-half stoppage time lit the touchpaper for Iran,who are seeking to end a 39-year wait for a fourth Asian Cup title, before Masoud Shojaei added a second in the 71st minute to end Bahrain’s resistance. But Queiroz, who had two spells as Alex Ferguson’s assistant at Old Trafford, was furious at what he said was a lack of consistency from referee Williams.
“For a referee so quick to show a yellow card when one of my players didn’t hear the whistle, I was completely surprised that when he sees Bahrain’s negative game, after 10 fouls in a row, he didn’t give them a single yellow,” the former Portugal and Real Madrid coach said.
Asia’s top-ranked side, Iran almost opened the scoring after 20 minutes when the dangerous Ashkan Dejagah forced a smart stop from Sayed Abbas in the Bahrain goal. But Bahrain had already served notice that they were not about to simply roll over as their bulldozing Nigerian-born striker Jaycee Okwunwanne blazed wide during the frenetic early skirmishes.
Sayed Shubbar then squandered a golden opportunity by heading over as Bahrain threatened to capitalise on a sluggish start from Iran.
It was then Hajsafi who, with almost the last kick of the first half, expertly trapped a looping clearance with his left foot and instantaneously smashed it past Abbas with the outside of his right boot from just outside the box.
“It was a brilliant, fantastic goal,” Queiroz said. “A goal to grace any stadium in the world. Bahrain made it difficult for us, but we deserved to win and should have scored more goals.”
Tempers flared in the second half when Iran goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi barged into Aaish, Bahrain’s playmaker, who appeared to block off the keeper as he attempted a quick throw.
Moments later, Shojaei popped up to steer a right-footed shot just inside the post from another corner to trigger wild celebrations from a crowd of 17,000.
“You saw what happened with the goalkeeper,” Queiroz said. “He tried for a quick transition and the No 12 stopped him.
“The laws of the game are clear – an elbow is a yellow card, no doubt about that.”
