1-0 to 2-3!The Persian Iron Cavalry was eliminated, and Qatar made history again! Afif made 1 pass and 1 shot + red
The second match of the semi-finals of the 2023 Qatar Asian Cup will be played by the host Qatar against Iran. Qatar was the champion of the last Asian Cup, winning all three games in the group stage, scoring 5 goals and conceding 0 goals from Group A, and then defeated Palestine and Uzbekistan in a row to enter the top four. Iran also won all three matches in the group stage, and then defeated Syria and Japan in a row to reach the semi-finals. Iran have won all of the last six meetings between the two teams, scoring nine goals and conceding only one, occupying an overwhelming advantage.
After the opening kick-off, Iran dominated possession and created more dangerous chances. In the 4th minute, Jahanbakhsh threw a throw-in, Taremi rubbed it, and then the Qatari defense failed to clear the ball, Azmoun scored with a barb at the back point, 1-0! Iran made a dream start; in the 5th minute, Afif cut inside on the right side, and the goalkeeper took the ball off;
In the 12th minute, Iran once again created a good opportunity to score, Jahanbakhsh stepped forward on the right side to receive a pass from his teammates, and then passed into the penalty area, Taremi quickly followed the goal, but unfortunately did not kick the ball, missed the good opportunity to open the score! In the 16th minute, Taremi successfully got a single chance against offside, but unfortunately was tackled by the player who returned to the ground; In the 17th minute, Afif stepped forward to the penalty area to get the ball, and then passed back to Jassim Abdulsalam at the top of the arc of the penalty area, who shot directly at the defender and refracted into the net, 1-1!
In the 32nd minute, Afif took the ball in front of the field and rushed into the penalty area, and then the shot was blocked, and the supplementary shot was slightly higher than the crossbar;In the 44th minute, Afif sent a cross knock in front of the field and was cleared, Fathi counter-robbed in front, and the ball came to the feet of Afif again, Afif broke into the penalty area with the ball and volleyed vigorously, 2-0, and scored his fifth goal in this Asian Cup! In the second minute of stoppage time, Gudos took a corner kick from the left side, Kanani hit Mendes' body in front of the goal, and the Iranian player complained about the handball, but there was no problem after VAR checking;
At half-time, Qatar chased 2 goals in a row after conceding 1 goal in the opening 4 minutes, temporarily leading 2-1, Afif 1 pass and 1 shot, is the team's number one hero; Iran had 53% possession in the half, scored 1 goal with 3 shots on goal and 1 shot on target, Qatar scored 2 goals from 2 shots, all very efficient!
In the 51st minute, Ezatorahi shot in the penalty area and hit Fathhi's hand, VAR intervened, and the referee went to the sidelines to watch the replay and awarded a penalty, Jahanbakhsh took the penalty kick, 2-2! In the 53rd minute, Abdelisago suddenly shot with his foot on the left side of the penalty area, and the goalkeeper struggled to save the ball!
In the 65th minute, Rezarian crossed from the right side, and Azmoun jumped high at the back of the penalty area to attack the goal, but unfortunately the top was deflected; In the 73rd minute, Ismail broke through the cross from the right side, and Ali's header was confiscated by the goalkeeper; in the 74th minute, Gudos took a corner kick from the right side, Harizadeh hit the goal with a header, and goalkeeper Barsham struggled to hold the ball out of the bottom line; in the 75th minute, Iran created chaos in the Qatar penalty area and attacked the goal continuously, but they were all resolved! During this time, Iran obviously dominated the field, and Afif basically couldn't get the ball;
In the 83rd minute, Afif's cross was cleared, Hatem tried a long shot outside the penalty area, the ball was stopped by Ali in the penalty area, the latter scored a low shot, VAR did not intervene, the goal was effective, 3-2, Qatar took the lead again! Since then, neither side has changed the score, and the score of 3-2 has been maintained until the final whistle, Qatar has entered the final for the second time in history, and is expected to defend the Asian Cup champion to set a record in team history!