3-2! Qatar is too fierce, knocking out Iran to advance to the Asian Cup final, and will compete with Jordan for the title
The semi-finals of the Asian Cup continued, with hosts Qatar beating Iran 3-2 to advance, with Qatar's number one star Afif delivering a brilliant pass and Almoz Ali scoring the winning goal in the 82nd minute. Iran created plenty of chances in the game, but they couldn't always break their opponents. Hosts Qatar advanced to the final, where they will face Jordan. In this Asian Cup, South Korea, Japan, Iran and other favorites failed to enter the finals, and there were many upsets.
Iran eliminated Japan 2-1 in the quarter-finals, while Qatar eliminated Uzbekistan through a penalty shootout. Iran took the lead in just four minutes of the opening game, Jahanbaksh threw a powerful throw-in into the penalty area, Qatar made a mistake in clearing, Azmoun barbed the net, 1-0! Iran got off to a dream start.
In the 12th minute, Jahanbaksh crossed from the right, and Taremi, who was outflanked in front of the goal, was half a beat slow to attack, and Iran almost extended their lead again. In the 17th minute of the game, Afif turned the ball back, Abdulsalam shot hard from the periphery, the ball was blocked by the defender and drew a high parabola and fell into the net, and the score became 1-1!
In the 32nd minute, Afif's one-on-one burst into the box was blocked, and then he shot slightly high in the empty net, and Qatar missed a must-score opportunity. In the 44th minute, Afif cut into the penalty area from the left side and volleyed with his right foot to break the net, 1-2! The host Qatar overtook the score! Qatar performed extremely well in the first half, and they completed the overtake after conceding the goal first.
In the 51st minute of the second half, the Iranian team got a penalty opportunity, and Jahanbaksh took the penalty to equalize the score 2-2. Iran continued to put pressure on the opposition's hinterland after equalising, and in the 74th minute cross, Harizadeh's header from inside the box was lobbed, and the Qatari goalkeeper flew to lift the ball over the crossbar. Taremi then fired a close-range shot in front of goal that was blocked by the opposition goalkeeper.
Just as Iran was attacking with all their might, Qatar seized a chance, and in the 82nd minute, Hatem's shot from the edge of the area was blocked by Almoz, who turned and fired a low shot into the far corner, 3-2! There were 13 minutes of stoppage time, and Iranian defender Harizadeh was sent off in the 93rd minute. In the end, Qatar kept the score 3-2 until the end, and the hosts reached the Asian Cup final, where they only needed one more win to win the title.