Budapest August 15th , 2012
Iran drew with Tunisias 2-2 in a friendly internationa match held in Széktói, Kecskemét, Hungary. The match which was in the conclusion of a week-long training camp in Budapest , ended scoreless at half time with Iran having more of the possession and creating several scoring opportunities.
In the first chance , as early as the 3rd minute , Ashkan Dejageh ball was cleared just before passing the goal line , while Karim Ansarifard , missed am easy ball while he was beautifully fed by Ali Karimi leaving him facing the goalkeeper with no marker in sight. Ansarifard blasted the ball off mark. Dejageh again found himself one on one with the Tunisian Keeper later on in the half . He dribbled past the advancing keeper with ease , but his feeble shoot towards the empty goal was intercepted by the advancing Tunisian defender for yet another chance to go astray.
In the second half , on the 53th minute, Iran soon found the goal from clever work by Ashkan Dejageh , who fed Heydari with a clever ball on the right flank. The Esteghlal defender , went past his marker and penetrated into the box and passed a perfect ball to Mohammadreza Khaltabry , who had ample time to receive and control the ball before smashing it into the goal past the helpless goalkeeper and defenders.
But the Iranians joy was short lived as three minutes later , Tunis equalized when substitute Ammerl Jemel , tapped a simple ball into the net past Rahmati. The goals was gifted to the Tunisians due to some poor marking and clearance which allowed the Tunisian winger to play simple pass to Jemel t
The Iranians retored the lead on the hour when another piece of clever football yielded result. Khaltabary on the left wing , played havoc with his two Tunisian defenders and he slalomed his way with ease passing them to cross a delicately measure inch perfect ball to the advancing Mohammad Ghazi , for the Perspolis forward to head home , Iran’s second. Ghazi was slightly injured when the Tunisian goalkeeper clashed into him trying to intercept Khalatbary’s cross.
Iran still managed to control the match , but yet another momentary lapse of concentration and another poor timing by Mehdi Rahmati cost Iran the match . A long cross from the right found Jomaaa, the Tunisian Substitute with plenty of time to jump and head the ball while two central defenders ball watches. Rahmati , in one of his classical misjudgment of the flight of the ball, allowed the ball to pass him while it could have been easily saved.
A last minute plea for a penalty by Javad Nekounam after the bal hitthe Tunisisan defendewrs armwas waved on by the Hungarian referee for the match to end in a tie.
Overall, it was a much better performance for Team Melli with some positive and organized football played by the Iranians. Omid Nazari , the Iranian-Swedish player made his debut , while there was no sign of Ghoochinejad the other new player in the squad.
Carlos Queiroz Iran’s national football team coach, in a post-match interview after the friendly match between Team Melli and Tunisia played in in Hungary , that the his team’s performance in this match was better than the results obtained.
“We had several one to one situations that did not yield any results. Unfortunately , we also concede two very simple goals. Of course ,it is not an individual fault but the overall team’s responsibility.” He added.
“ In general , I was not really satisf
ied with the results , because it was lower than I expected. We have wasted a good chance of winning this game. However , I am not too concerned , as there is no problem in this team that cannot be resolved(…)”
Queiroz then explained the circumstances behind conceding those two simple goals “
“We lost concentration in the two moments that we conceded the goals. We also allowed the Tunisians to exert pressure on us during the times that we conceded the goals. The positive point of our team, was the creation of many scoring chances which in itself is encouraging. While the fact that we rarely allowed the opposition to reach our goal . was another positive aspect. I think we are doing a good job and we are moving forward and am excited for the next camp because I have this mentality that we were fully prepared to meet in Lebanon.”
Iran’s coach commented about the players, especially the new players and said, “I am satisfied with the performance of the Omid Nazari. He had high concentration throughout the game and he looked like he was a veteran rather than a rookie in the team.
“I am satisfied with the performance of the team but I am so upset with the result”
“I was quite excited to have Ghoochanejad in the match as he trained very well with us since he joined the squad. However , the FIFA documents allowing him to play with Iran was not issued in time . I was quite satisfied with Maziyar Zare in his new role in the center of defense as well. He did a good job. I am comfortable to have another solid defender in this position now.”.
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