In between the qualifiers in the spring and the finals in the fall, Iran’s preparation mounted to next to nothing. Other than some games against local and foreign clubs, no friendies were played and Iran’s camp consisted of get togethers of predicted individuals. While Dehdari seemed reluctant to request assistance of any of the abandoned players he accepted the retraction of the resignation of Sajjadi, Morteza Fonoonizadeh and Arabshahi. After mass pressure from the media and in light of his incredible scoring feats in the domestic league, the scoring phenom Pious was recalled (albeit without a retraction of his resignation) as the team was literally ready to depart to Qatar. In a group consisting of host Japan, Qatar, South Korea and UAE, his offensive output would be necessary and a perfect complement to Bavi’s aerial attack. The opening game of the tournament was to be held between Iran and hosts Qatar.
The preparation or lack thereof, by the Iranian squad, in addition to their relative youth and inexperience made Iran an unpredictable team. Qatar opened up the game with a barrage of attacks, but it was Iran who got on the scoreboard early on. Off of Pious’s corner kick in the 6th minute, Bavi headed in a perfect header that evaded a fruitless attempt by a Qatar defender to clear it off the line. With such power was this header struck that in spite of hitting two Qatari players en route to goal it still carried enough momentum to cross the line. The unexpected lead resulted in the hosts applying increased pressure to equalize. They came close in the first half with a chip over Abedzadeh which went high. In the second half they barely missed connecting on a ball headed across the goalmouth. The Iranian defense would prove too hard to penetrate. To make matters worse, Qatar was reduced to ten men after their player recklessly chopped down Pious in midfield.
However, late in the game Qatar’s pushing forward with all personnel cost them. A give and go between Bavi and Pious ended in a beautiful through pass that sliced Qatar’s defense. Pious had a whole half to freely run on goal where he was met by an onrushing Yunis Ahmed, the Qatari keeper. Pious calmly nutmegged the keeper to double the lead and minutes later the match ended in a 2-0 victory for Iran.
In the second game Iran faced a Japanese team that seemingly was to be one of Iran’s rivals for making the semifinals. Iran outplayed Japan and even hit the post, but could not break the deadlock and the game ended 0-0.
This time around no one expected a repeat of the score, yet Iran still looked capable enough to pull off a win. Midway through the first half a cross from captain Ghayeghran met with Bavi’s header on the far post that put the ball back across the goal mouth. A perfect positioning by Pious and an accurate shot by him netted the game’s only goal.
This result, combined with Japan’s shock defeat days later against UAE mathematically qualified Iran and South Korea for the semifinals. The only issue to be resolved was the seeding, which would be determined when the two teams met in the final group game against each other.
The game itself could have been a thriller, given the ancient rivalry between the teams. Besides, South Korea had eliminated Iran in the quarterfinals of the 1986 Asian Games and thus this would have been a good chance for revenge. However, with advancement assured, both teams opted for reserve squads and the game failed to live up to its expectations. Pious was benched and Sajjadi took Abedzadeh’s place in goal while Taghavi, Arabshahi and Rahimpour also made a rare appearance.
In spite of having an early chance by Bavi’s header, Iran eventually caved in as a result of the Korean pressure. A shot that ricocheted under Sajjadi’s hand would result in South Korea’s first goal in the 26th minute. With mere minutes left until halftime, Sajjadi blocked a shot from close range, but only for the Korean player to tap in his own rebound.
In the second half a through-ball and breakaway put the Koreans up 3-0. Abedzadeh was subbed in and was lucky not to concede a goal after a Korean chip bounced off of the crossbar. The lone bright spot about this game was the emergence of Ghayeghran’s thunderous long range shots which on three occasions forced the Korean keeper into making a spectacular save.
With the 3-0 win South Korea finished first in the group and as the runner-up, Iran would face Saudi Arabia in the semifinals. Following the defeat Dehdari stated that in the Final he would avenge the loss against the Koreans.
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The
game itself was pretty even although the Saudis would go up early. A cross from
the right met with Majed Abdullah’s header, who beat Morteza Fonoonizadeh in
the air. Abedzadeh managed to get a hand on the ball but was only able to push
it against the inner post and ultimately in the net.
Some precise passing almost led to an equalizer but Pious failed to convert Bavi’s feed. Pious would also be brought down in the box but the referee signaled to continue play. In the second half, Iran would continue to threaten Saudi Arabia’s goal. Ansarifar’s floated a perfect cross to the far post but Bavi’s header would be saved by the keeper. A quick give and go in the box between Pious and Kermani Moghaddam left Kermani Moghaddam with just the keeper to beat but his shot was saved. As Pious homed in on the rebound he was once again knocked off of his feet by the Saudies. Late in the game Moharrami charged down the left flank and sent a cross from the endline that was deflected back to him. Moharrami headed the ball back into the box only for a Saudi defender to attempt a clearance. The ball fell to Kermani Moghaddam, whose thunderous shot kissed the back of the net. However, under bizarre circumstances this goal was taken back by the ref. The verdict was unclear; Kermani Moghaddam could not have been offside as it was a back pass, which also deflected off of a Saudi player anyway. There were no players close enough to Kermani Moghaddam for him to foul. The only reasonable explanation seemed to be Moharrami being in an offside position when receiving his own rebound although even then the pass was from a Saudi player.
With the equalizer disallowed, a foolish foul by the Iranian defense gave Saudi Arabia a penalty kick. In spite of Abedzadeh’s correct guess and spectacular dive, the kick was converted, however, the ref ruled that a Saudi player had entered the box before his whistle and ordered the kick retaken. This time the kick was taken to the opposite side of goal, but Abedzadeh came up big and saved the shot to keep the difference to a minimum.
Iran’s remaining efforts yielded no result and thus Iran headed into the 3rd place game against China.
Unlike Iran, China seemed especially unmotivated for their final game. In the semifinals China had put up a good game against the strong Koreans with an entertaining display. In overtime the Koreans went up 1-0 only for the Chinese to equalize minutes later. However, the Koreans managed to come back and score the game winner and advance to the final against the Saudis. The game itself was not particularly enjoyable for a neutral fan, although Ghayeghran’s long range shots provided a few sparks while Pious and Bavi also came close to scoring. Regulation ended 0-0 and in overtime, off of a pass by Pious and from inside the six-yard box Ghayeghran had a perfect opportunity to net the game winner, but in a situation where missing seemed more difficult than converting, his shot went high.
Eventually the game went into a penalty kick shootout. Abedzadeh saved the
first Chinese shot while Moharrami tucked Iran’s first kick into the side netting.
China’s second shot bounced off the post and Ansarifar sent the keeper the
wrong way to double Iran’s lead.
China’s third shot was once again saved by Abedzadeh and it was left to Ghayeghran to clinch 3rd place for Iran with his game winning penalty.
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