On February 3, Beijing time, the 1/4 finals of the 2023 Qatar Asian Cup ushered in a strong dialogue, and the first brother of East Asia, the Japanese team, played the first brother of West Asia, the Iranian team.
This match is the third of the quarter-finals of this tournament, and the two matches completed in the first half of the tournament, Jordan and South Korea defeated their respective opponents Tajikistan and Australia respectively to reach the top 4. Japan vs. Iran and Qatar vs. Uzbekistan in the bottom half will compete for the remaining two places in the top four.
Japan and Iran have a deep grudge, and it was Japan that eliminated Iran 3-0 in the semi-finals of the last Asian Cup to reach the final. In this 1/4 matchup, the Iranian team aims to report Japan's 3-goal bloody goal in the last session.
At the beginning, the two teams did not make too many attempts, and both put on a rhythm of attack. The core of the Iranian team, Azmoun, was quite active, frequently using his physical advantage to attack the Japanese team's defenders, and due to the slightly larger movements, the Chinese referee Ma Ning had to verbally warn Azmoun twice to pay attention to the scale of the movement. After the Iranian team's opening three-board axe shockwave, Japan gradually used the players' skillful ball control skills to control the midfield and guide the pace of the game.
In the first 20 minutes, the two sides attacked and defended each other, but neither could score a goal, and the game was in a stalemate. After 20 minutes, Japan gradually picked up the tempo of the game, frequently using two flanks to break through and threaten the Iranian team. In the 28th minute, Hidemasa Morita shook two Iranian defenders in a row at the front of the penalty area, threw off the space and burst into the big penalty area, and then faced Iranian goalkeeper Ranvande one-on-one with his right foot. Japan opened the deadlock first and took a 1-0 lead.
Iran, who trailed by the scoreline, were unable to organize an effective counter-attack for the remainder of the first half, and Japan had no better chance to extend their lead. Japan led 1-0 to end the first half.
After half-time, the two teams changed sides and fought again. Iran, in turn, picked up the pace of the ball in an attempt to equalize as soon as possible. Azmoun repeatedly fell into the trap of Japan's offside defense, and it was in vain. Japan also set up a good chance to open the scoring, but Hisashi Hisashi's right-footed shot after the breakthrough was deflected wide of the post. In the 55th minute, Iran finally found a good opportunity, Azmoun sent a through ball from the edge of the box, Mohebi rushed out before two Japanese players formed a closed defence, and scored with a right-footed push. The score was 1-1 and both sides returned to the starting line.
After tying the score, the Iranian team took advantage of the situation to pursue and frequently attacked the Japanese team's goal, which was a great siege. In the 63rd minute, Azmoun finally scored, but unfortunately it was offside. The video assistant referee showed that the moment Azmoun started, it was only a slight offside on the butt, which was really a millimeter. According to the video referee's prompt, Ma Ning ruled that the goal was invalid. In the 68th and 72nd minutes, Iran made a comeback, and Azmoun and Mohebi's shots were slightly wide of the post. The Japanese team seemed to be stunned, and there was a rumor in front of the goal.
The Iranian team has been unable to attack for a long time, and seeing that the time is running out, the two sides are about to enter extra time. There were four minutes of stoppage time, and in the seconds of stoppage time, the drama happened, the Iranian team hoisted the ball into the penalty area, and in the panic, two Japanese players collided together, and when they fell to the ground, Itakura kicked Kanani down. The Manin whistle went straight to the 12-yard penalty spot. Jahanbakhsh hit a fatal penalty kick, 2-1, Iran overtook the score and beat Japan to advance to the top 4, and at the same time avenged the last one-shot revenge.
After the game, many media hotly discussed why the Japanese team, which had won 10 consecutive victories in the warm-up matches and defeated Germany, Turkey, Peru and other European and American teams in a row, played so abnormally in this tournament, lost the ball every game, and finally stopped in the top 8.