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- Published: 15 January 2014
Muscat: A goal from Petros Skapetis put Australia into the quarter-finals of the AFC U-22 Championship with a 1-0 victory over Iran in Group C at Royal Police Stadium on Tuesday.
The Australian forward latched on to a loose ball on the 56th minute and fired home after Iranian goalkeeper Ali Reza Beiranvand could only parry defender Curtis Good’s header following a corner kick.
And although Iran threw on two more forwards in an attempt to restore parity, they were unable to breakdown a very organised Australian side, who might have scored again through midfielder Stefan Mauk in the final minutes of the match.
“We knew it would be a hard and physical game but I’m happy with the performance of my players” said Australia coach Aurelio Vidmar.
“We need to get a bit more composure, especially through the midfield, as the game got very stretched at times. But overall, I’m very pleased.”
While Iran welcomed back defender Vahid Esmaeilbeigi and midfielder Morteza Pouraliganji to the side from suspension, Australia coach Vidmar swapped almost his entire starting line-up from the 11 that began the 1-0 over Kuwait on Sunday.
“Every team has the same amount of players, our philosophy is to give everyone an opportunity.
"we wanted everyone to each get a full game, and we’ve achieved that so far,” explained Vidmar.
“There’s no first team or second team, I’m just trying to build one team.”
In a tight first half with chances at a premium, one of Vidmar’s changes, striker Adam Taggart, had his side’s first effort on goal inside the first 10 minutes as his free-kick from just outside the penalty area went narrowly over the crossbar.
Taggart was the most likely source of a breakthrough for Australia in the first period and on the 23rd minute he sent another curling shot drifted wide.
In between those strikes by the Australia forward, Mehdi Shiri went close for Iran with a deflected effort that goalkeeper Aaron Lennox pushed out, and a swerving long range effort that was just off target.
Australia came out fired up for the second half, however, and in the first minute after the restart Andrew Hoole’s penetrating run down the right side was followed by a shot from the right winger that needed to be punched clear by an alert Beiranvand at his near post.
Centre-back Good was then forced to leave the field for treatment to a nasty gash above his eye following a clash of heads, and with the big centre-back off the field, Iran had their best chance to open the scoring as Kaveh Rezaei slipped in Benham Barzay for a low shot from inside the penalty area that was parried wide by Lennox in the Australia goal.
But with Good back on the field sporting a mass of white gauzing around his injured forehead, it was Australia who took the lead.
Awarded a free-kick in a central area on the 55th minute, Hoole skimmed a low shot off the turf that was pushed out for a corner by the Iranian custodian.
But from the resulting set-piece, a hurtling blur of bandages in the form of Good powered a header on target that Beiranvand could only parry as far as the waiting Skapetis, who hooked the ball into the gaping net.
In a bid to seek an equaliser, Iran brought on strikers Arsalan Motahhari and Seyed Miri and it was the former who had his side’s best chance with a low shot into the arms of a sprawling Lennox following good work from Rezaei.
Australia dominated possession for the remains of the second half, although Motahhari had time for another effort at the death but this time his shot from the edge of the penalty area went wide of Lennox’s right-hand post.
With a lengthy seven minutes of stoppage time added due to Good’s extended treatment, Maulk could have put the game to bed, but a good save from Beiranvand prevented the second half substitute from doubling the advantage.
“It was a physically demanding game and we can say a game of small differences. Australia is a great team, very organised with a fighting spirit,” said Iran coach Human Afazeli.
“A big difference was that Australia used almost 11 new players, and we couldn’t do that as we have only 20 players in our squad and three of them are goalkeepers.
“I want to praise my players, they showed fantastic effort. I am satisfied with their efforts, they did a good job.”
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AFC U-22 CHAMPIONSHIP 2013
FINAL ROUND
14-01-2014 17:00 GST
Royal Oman Police Stadium, Muscat, OMAN
[Attendance] 250
IRAN 0 1 AUSTRALIA
0 Half time 1
MVP: SHAHRYAR SHIRVAND
Referee: KIM JONG HYEOK (KOREA REPUBLIC)
Lineups
IRAN: 1 ALI REZA SAFARBEIRANVAND , 2 VAHID ESMAEILIBEIGI , 3 SHAHRYAR SHIRVAND (C), 5 MOHAMMAD AMIN HAJMOHAMMADI, 13 AHMAD ZENDEHROOH, 23 MEHDI SHIRI [16 FARDIN ABEDINI 62'], 6 MORTEZA POURALIGANJI, 14 SHAHAB KARAMI, 19 BEHNAM BARZAY [11 SEYED PEYMAN MIRI 71'], 20 EHSAN PAHLAVAN [17 ARSALAN MOTAHHARI 84'], 9 KAVEH REZAEI
HUMAN AFAZELI (Head Coach)
AUSTRALIA: 1 AARON LENNOX ; 3 CURTIS GOOD (C),4 CONNOR CHAPMAN , 6 JOSHUA BRILLANTE , 8 RYAN EDWARDS [17 JAKE BARKER-DAISH 80'],13 SCOTT GALLOWAY, 16 REECE CAIRA,21 ANDREW HOOLE, 23 PETROS SKAPETIS [9 DYLAN TOMBIDES 90'], 10 ADAM TAGGART [7 STEFAN INGO MAUK 86'], 11 CONNOR PAIN
AURELIO VIDMAR (Head Coach)
Yellow Cards: CHAPMAN (AUS) 23', HAJMOHAMMADI (IRI) 38', GOOD (AUS) 49', KARAMI(IRI) 78'
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Group C
| Teams | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUSTRALIA | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| JAPAN | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| I.R. IRAN | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 1 |
| KUWAIT | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 1 |
Muscat: An early contender for AFC U-22 Championship goal of the tournament from Shoya Nakajima was the pick of the bunch in a high-scoring encounter between Japan and Iran that ended in a 3-3 tie in their Group C fixture at Royal Police Stadium on Sunday.
Both sides were off the mark before the game had even reached the 10 minutes mark with Benham Barzay’s opener for Iran quickly nullified by a reply from Riki Harakawa.
Takuma Asano then put Japan ahead five minutes before the interval as the action continued at a furious pace.
The break did nothing to calm an appetite for goals with Iran striker Kaveh Rezaei bagging a brace within 10 minutes of the restart to restore Iran’s lead before Nakajima’s long range strike capped off the scoring in a thrilling contest.
“It was a tough but open game, we both scored a lot of goals and conceded a lot,” said Japan coach Makoto Teguramori, whose side will face Kuwait in his side’s next fixture on Tuesday.
“However, considering the lack of preparation, the ability of my side to score and give a tough game, was a positive factor.
“In terms of goals conceded we will need to make adjustments. My players had a good feeling and as we play more we’ll improve. The Iran coach said this was his B team, I don’t think it was a B team at all!”
Iran flew out of the blocks in the opening minutes, swarming over a tentative Japan right from the kick-off and it took forward Rezaei just four minutes to impose himself on the game.
He first played in Shahab Karami who blazed over, before playing a part in the move that led to Barzay’s opener, with the forward finding himself with space to turn and shoot in the penalty area with Japan’s defence all at sea in the seventh minute.
The goal shocked the young Blue Samurai into action as Iran’s lead lasted just two minutes as Harakawa stepped inside two challenges on the edge of the penalty area before curling the ball into the corner past an unsighted Ali Reza Beiranvand who was left motionless on his line by the ball’s vicious swerve.
From then on the match opened up into a pattern of pulsating back and forth attacks from both sides.
Nakajima shot wide when played through just after the 20 minute mark, while Iran reposted almost immediately with a deft combination between Afshin Esmaeilzadeh and Seyed Miri that resulted in the former slamming a shot against Masatoshi Kushibiki’s crossbar from 16 yards out.
With both sides attacking at will, space began to open up at the back and as Iran pushed forward in numbers, the ball broke to Asano who found himself one-on-one with Beiranvand and he clipped adroitly over the goalkeeper to give Japan the lead.
Musashi Suzuki had a good chance to add a third goal when put through on goal with under 10 minutes of the half remaining but the midfielder was denied by the Iranian custodian who dived bravely at his feet to avert the danger.
The second half continued much the same as the first period with both teams attacking with gusto and it took just two minutes after the restart before Iran restored parity as a coming together in the box between Japan captain Takaharu Nishino and Rezaei resulted in a penalty which the latter coolly converted high to the goalkeeper’s left.
And the irrepressible Rezaei then put his side in front after 55 minutes with a powerful shot from just inside the penalty area that curled into the top corner.
Although the Iranian number nine’s strike was a fine effort, it only took 10 minutes for the diminutive Nakajima to go one better with a spectacular shot from distance that arrowed into the top corner.
With the furious tempo the match had enjoyed for over an hour, it was understandable that the pace began to drop as a raft of substitutions took place, although there was still time for one final chance as a free-kick from substitute Shinya Yajima flew just inches wide of Beiranvand’s right-hand post.
“I think it was an acceptable start for our team, especially against a competitive and well-organised team like Japan, considering this was the first time this lineup played together,” said Iran coach Afazeli Human, who will take on Australia on Tuesday.
“For us, I think, the good starts we made to both halves are something we can build on. We didn’t come to draw, we wanted to win and so did Japan, that’s why it was so open.”
Muscat: Japan coach Makoto Teguramori is banking on his young side developing a winning habit starting at the AFC U-22 Championship with victory in the competition a crucial step on the road to future success.
Ayatollahei also dismissed fears expressed by Alireza Mansourian about the recruitment of a foreign coach for the Omid Team.
The FFIRI official emphasized that the coach will be assigned to the U-23 team or the B team and not the U-22 which will remain under Mansourian for the foreseeable future. "He should focus on his job as we have no plan on changing him, The coach we are trying to recruit is fo another TEam Melli age rank , which is the Omid or U-23" Ayatollahei said.
Ayatollahei also confirmed that the current Team Melli sponsor , a Car dealer , has been having difficulty sticking to its
contractual obligations. A last minute sponsorship deal was struck between the FFIRI and a small company that deals in importing foreignluxury cars to Iran , in what seemed like a surprise move. The deal was questioned by many observers, and it does not come as a surprise that the sponsoring company has difficulty in paying its commitment. Ayatollahei said that a last warning was given to the sponsor to respect its obligations. "Failure by the sponsor to carry out its contractual obligation will force us to cancel the contact and look for a new sponsor"
