A new look young Team Melli defeated Uzbekistan 1-0 in a friendly match in Tashkent on Thursday. Iran’s only goal came in the dying minutes of the match and scored by Mehdi Torabi.
In a fairly entertaining game which saw little exchanges in the first half but came alive in the second , Team Melli passed with flying colors.
While Mirjalal Qosimov, Uzbekistan coach used his main team skeleton, Carlos Queiroz opted to revamp his side and introduce young players giving 5 of them their debuts. Both teams have a rest day in the first round of FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers. In round 2 , in 5 days’ time Uzbekistan task is that much more difficult against North Korea away , while Iran will face Turkmenistan who were surprisingly beaten by lowly Guam earlier today.
The change in the lineup for Team Melli had some positive effects, one of which was the marked increase in pace of the players and speed of the game. Such development is directly attributed to the lower age of the new players.
Early exchanges in the first half did not result in any goals although the host came close with their star player Rashidov who was foiled by the quick reaction of Alireza Haghighi in Iran’s goal.
The game came alive in the second half especially in the action packed last half an hour.
In the 63rd minute: Hajsafy Free Kick missed the post by inches
On the 66th minute: Sordor Rashidov dummied Montazeri with a neat turn and had only Haghighi in goal to beat but slams the ball up in the stands! Glorious chance missed for the hosts.
69th minute: Alireza Haghigh saves from Sergeev header, a minute later a half volley from Uzbek player is headed away from the goal line by Milad Mohammadi.
72nd minute: beautiful exchanges from the right flank beginning with Ghaffori fine dribble past the Uzbek winger to release Khosrow Heydary. The right back sends a low diagonal pass to set up Sardar Azmoun whose shot was scrambled clear from near the goal line by the Uzbek defender.
75th minute: several goals scoring chances following skirmishes inside the Uzbek goal with attempts by Azmoun, then Sharif and finally Heydari failed to produce a well-deserved goal for Iran.
85th again the combination on the right flank of Heydari and Ghafoori on the right, produced a glorios moment for Iran with Khosrow Heydari setting up Mehdi Sharifi in the six yards. The young Sepahan forward produced a spectacular scissors kick which also produced a similar spectacular save by Nesterov, the Uzbek keeper. This was perhaps the best move of the match
in the dying minutes of the match , the 20 years old Mehdi Torabi, and in combination with Hajsafy on the left flank , managed to dribble past two Uzbek defenders before getting a lucky break. From an acute angle, Torabi slotted past the highly experienced Nesterov with a fine shot to score Iran only goal. It was a history repeating itself and Nesterov cursing his luck as he was similarly beatn the last time these two teams met in Tashkent , by Khalatbary in the dying minutes of the match.
A fine and clinical finish by the debutant left back worthy oi winning any match.
Despite the Uzbek referee adding 7 minutes to regular time, Iran held solidly and the final whistle. The finish was more than satisfactory for the new look Team Melli registering yet another win against Uzbekistan.
Although Queiroz did not look like a happy man during the match, and that could very well be as a result of all the hardship that his squad has faced in Mehrabad airport, the Portuguese coach must be quite satisfied with the result of his young squad and proud of their work rate and performance.
Evan the last minute exciting goal failed to produce on Queiroz’s face.
With this successful test , Team Melli should have little problem in Turkmenistan in 5 days’ time.
The players who made their debut against Uzbekistan were: Mehdi Taremi , Saeid Ezzatollahi , Milad Mohammadi , Mehdi Torabi and Hossein Kanani