Per editor: Li Zedong
At 18:00 Beijing time on November 25, the second round of Group B of the 2022 Qatar World Cup group stage, Wales vs Iran was played at Ahmed Ben Ali Stadium in Raiyang.
In the first half, Moore's point-grabbing shot was saved by Husseini, and Gulizerd's goal was blown for offside, making it 0-0 at halftime. Easy side fights again, Azmund and Gulizerd's shots hit the post one after another, Hennessey turned red, in stoppage time, Cesmi World Po scored, Lezaian went to the next goal.
On November 25, Iranian players celebrate teammate Ceshami's goal. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Lili
At the end of the match, Iran beat Wales 2-0 and temporarily moved up to second place in the group.
After this game, Wales has 1 point and Iran 3 points. Wales will face England in the next round, Iran will face the United States, and both sides still have a chance to qualify.
The first red card of this World Cup
Wales manager Paige's starting line-up is:
Goalkeeper: Hennessy; Defenders: Neco Williams, Ben Davis, Mefim, Roden, Connor Roberts; Midfielders: Ampadu, Aaron Ramsey, Harry Wilson; Forwards: Bale, Moore.
The Iranian squad is:
Goalkeeper: Hussein Husseini; Defenders: Haji Safi, Muhammadi, Praliganji, Majid Hosseini, Rezai'an; Midfielders: Said Al Faag, Ali Golizadeh, Ahmed Norolahi; Forwards: Taremi, Azmoun.
Wales' Joe Rodden (right) fights Iran's Azmoun on November 25. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Cao Can
After the start of the game, the Iranian team fought fiercely and formed a siege in front of the court many times - in the 16th minute of the game, Iran made a steal in front, local formation of more and less play, Golizadeh in front of the goal to steal a goal, but unfortunately this goal was invalid.
Commenting on Wales' first-half disadvantage, the BBC commented, "The Welsh team needs to be steady, they are a bit blind on the pitch and have a lack of concentration. The Iranian team put a lot of pressure on them. ”
After the start of the second half, Iran was the first to press - in the 50th and 51st minutes, Iran hit the goal post twice and missed the goal...
In the rest of the game, Iran still had the advantage, and if it weren't for the successive brilliant saves by Wales goalkeeper Hennessy, Wales would have missed the goal.
Image source: Visual China VCG31N1245077282
But in the 84th minute, Hennessi collided with Iranian striker Taremi and was sent off with a red card after a VAR replay – the first red card of the World Cup.
Iran didn't give up - in injury time, Iran scored from distance to beat Wales! Then in the 100th minute, the Iranian team went to the next city!
Iran team: the "Persian iron horse" with high hopes
According to a report by Xinhua News Agency on November 3, the Iranian team is almost difficult to find opponents in Asia, but on the stage of the World Cup, the "Persian Iron Horse" with five participation experiences has not yet broken into the knockout round.
Four years ago in Russia, only Japan in Asia managed to break through from the World Cup group stage, but then they were eliminated by Belgium in the quarterfinals. Four years later, as the "Asian head" with the best "signing" and the highest ranking in the world among the six teams in the Asian zone, can Iran support the Asian façade and go further in the knockout round?
Iran is invincible in Asia, but its qualification for the World Cup has not been easy. The earlier round of 40 created more difficulties for them than the round of 12, losing consecutive losses to Bahrain and Iraq, which many Iranian fans did not expect. However, the Iranian team stopped its decline in subsequent matches and returned to the "chopping melons and cutting vegetables" mode. In the round of 12, Iran won 1 draw and 1 defeat against South Korea, and won all the other matches, and finally qualified for the World Cup finals as the first place in the group.
Iran's Taremi celebrates a goal in a World Cup on September 7, 2021. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Niku)
Iranians fanatical about football are unhappy with the path to promotion. After drawing 1 and losing 1 against South Korea, Iran was defeated by Algeria in a friendly in June, which cost then-coach Skokic, who led Iran to a World Cup ticket to Qatar, lose his job. In September, the Iranian Football Association chose to hold hands again with Portuguese Carlos Queiroz.
Queiroz first coached the Iranian national team in April 2011, and over the next eight years, he led the team to the 2014 and 2018 World Cup finals. In Russia, Iran beat Morocco, defeated Spain by one goal, drew Portugal, and finally lost by one point to the group stage.
Queiroz chose to leave in 2019 when his contract with the Iranian Football Association expired. Going around in circles, now Queiroz is once again taking the coaching of the Iranian team, on the one hand, the change of coach and leaving only more than two months to prepare for the nearly ancient Queiroz, the Iranians cannot be described as risky; But on the other hand, Queiroz is already the longest-serving manager of the Iranian national team, and most of the players in the squad he knows and even single-handedly promoted.
Iran coach Queiroz directs from the sidelines of the Asian Cup match against Japan on January 28, 2019. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Cao Can
The biggest card in this Iranian team today is Porto striker Taremi. The hard-hitting attacker up front is in hot form this season, breaking through the door in a recent warm-up match against Uruguay. In addition, striker Jahanbakhsh, who currently plays for Feyenoord in the Eredivisie, Brentford midfielder Gudos in the Premier League, AEK defender Hai Safi, who is 1.94 meters tall and good at throwing balls with strong hands, are all important players in this Iranian team. Unfortunately, Azmoun, known to Chinese fans as "Iranian Messi", was injured in early October and is expected to miss six to eight weeks. As an important member of the Iranian team's front court, if Azmoun cannot rush to Qatar, the Iranian team's attacking power will be greatly damaged.
The Iranian team mainly defended and counterattacked tactics in the World Series, and most of the defensive players came from their own leagues, with tacit understanding and mental attributes "bursting", based on intensive defense, while frontcourt players waited for the opportunity to attack the opponent's penalty area. However, Iranian players will lose their physical advantage in Asia in front of European and American teams, their impact attributes will decrease, and the shortcomings of technical roughness will be magnified. In addition, once Taremi, which is familiar and even carefully studied by almost all opponents, is targeted, it may be difficult for the Iranian team to use too many punches in the offensive field.
In addition, Qatar and Iran are across the bay, the geographical location and climate of the two places are close, and it is relatively convenient for many football-loving people in Iran to watch the game. Iran and Qatar have friendly relations between the football associations, and the Iranian team often organizes training camps in Doha, compared with their opponents in the same group, the Iranian team is sitting on "half a home stadium". With this favorable blessing, the Iranian team qualified from the group, which can be said to have added a few more opportunities.
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