2019 Asian Championship (January 2019)

Following the World Cup there was some uncertainty regarding Quieroz’s future. While he indicated that he wanted a four year contract, however, the IFF offered to extend his contract only until the end of the Asian Championship, for which Iran had qualified for via the World Cup qualifiers. Queiroz would take an experienced squad to the UAE with the only uncapped player being substitute goalkeeper Niazmand. Ezzatollahi and Rezaei would miss the tournament due to injuries. While Dejagah and Ghoochannejad both went unused in the World Cup, the former returned as captain (in Shojaei’s absence) but the latter announced his international retirement. Azmoun, who had also declared his unavailability due to online criticism, was convinced to rejoin the team. In preparation of the tournament Iran played a number of friendlies, going undefeated in them. Iran’s final camp in Qatar was only possible due to the financial aid provided by the Qatar Football Association who hosted and bankrolled it and allowed for three friendly games against Venezuela, Palestine and hosts Qatar. Iran was grouped with Iraq, Vietnam and Yemen where the top two teams and four third placed teams with the best record would advance to the knockout rounds.

 

Iran opened its campaign against Yemen. 

 

While Iran were favorites in the opener, however it was Yemen who created the first chance of the game, Ahmed Al Sarori darting into the penalty area and flashing a 7^th minute shot narrowly over the bar. But only five minutes later Taremi would convert a rebound after the keeper could only push Azmoun’s long-range effort back into his path. Dejagah doubled Iran’s tally after 23 minutes, his freekick finding the back of the net after striking both the woodwork and the keeper. 

Taremi bagged his second of the night by heading home Rezaeian’s pinpoint cross moments later for a 3-0 lead. 

 

With the halftime break approaching, Ebrahimi forced Al Sowadi into a fine diving save as Iran maintained their dominance. There was to be little change to the pattern of the game in the second half, and after Al Sowadi had superbly repelled two Azmoun headers, the forward finished from close range in the 53^rd minute following a scramble in the six yard box to further extend Iran’s lead. 

 

Iran showed no sign of relenting as the game progressed, with Azmoun only denied by Mudir Abdurabu’s excellent challenge when through on goal, and the seemingly omnipresent striker crashing a shot against the bar with 14 minutes remaining. 

 

Substitute Ghoddoos added a fifth with a vicious shot from the edge of the area shortly after, while Torabi’s fierce drive struck a post in added time. 

 

A 5-0 win was truly representative of Iran’s superiority in its opener.

 

Iran next faced Vietnam knowing that a win would guarantee advancement to the next round. 

 

Iran enjoyed the lion’s share of possession in the opening moments and threatened early when Amiri somehow failed to apply a finishing touch at the far post following Dejagah’s 11^th minute corner kick. 

 

Vietnam keeper Dang Van Lâm then denied Ghoddoos with a sprawling save before he produced another fine stop to repel a fierce Azmoun drive shortly before the half-hour mark. The inevitable breakthrough came at the 38^th minute. Azmoun rose to head home a pinpoint Ghoddoos cross and send his side into the halftime break holding a crucial, if slender, lead. 

 

Vietnam could have drawn level in the 52^nd minute when substitute Nguyen Van Toàn's pass found Nguyen Công Phuong, whose shot from 12 yards was parried to safety by the advancing Beiranvand. 

 

Moments later Azmoun forced Van Lâm into another fine save only to see Mehdi Taremi lash the subsequent rebound wide of the target when well placed. Iran continued to press and their patience was duly rewarded in the 68^th minute. Azmoun neatly gathered a Torabi pass and fired past Van Lâm to extend his side’s advantage and register his third goal of the tournament. 

 

Nguyen Quang Hai curled a late effort narrowly off target, but it mattered little to Iran as they held on to their 2-0 win to register a record ninth successive Asian Championship group stage victory to further reinforce their title credentials.

 

Resting Taremi and Dejagah, Iran then lined up against Iraq in a tame affair in which both teams had already punched their ticket to the next round. 

Azmoun headed wide and Kananizadegan recorded Iran’s only shot on target of a low-quality first half. The ref waived off claims for a penalty kick after Ebrahimi went down in the box and with the first half winding down Jahanbakhsh skied his shot over from close range. Mohanad Ali Kadhim went close to giving Iraq the lead but his shot from the edge of the penalty area was easily gathered by Beiranvand. Ali Adnan Kadhim sent a 35-yard effort off target in the 69^th minute before Bashar Resan Bonyan missed to the left of Beiranvand's goal with another long-range strike. Beiranvand tipped over a header from Alaa Abbas in the 77^th minute, but Iraq could not find a way to break Iran’s defense down despite their second half pressure. 

 

In the end the teams settled for a 0-0 tie and Iran topped the group.

 

In the second round Iran faced Oman. 

 

Within a minute, Oman were awarded a penalty when Hosseini brought down the rampaging Muhsen Al Ghassani, only for Beiranvand to superbly tip Ahmed Al Mahaijri’s effort around the post. 

 

Iran responded almost immediately through a fierce Azmoun drive from distance and then a Jahanbakhsh effort which deflected wide. Iran believed they should have had a penalty of their own after Dejagah broke through the box and was brought down although the referee disagreed. Some quick passing between Jahanbakhsh and Azmoun freed Taremi but his shot was flashed narrowly wide. Iran duly broke the deadlock in the 32^nd minute when Mohammed Al Musallami failed to cut out Mohammadi’s speculative long ball forward and tried to back pass to his keeper but was outdone by the pace of Jahanbakhsh who fired home. 

 

Nine minutes later Iran doubled its lead. Saad Al Mukhaini brought Taremi down in the area and Dejagah stepped up to convert the resulting penalty. 

 

In the final moments of a pulsating first half, Beiranvand produced yet another fine stop to repel Al Ghassani’s piledriver as Oman sought to reduce the deficit. Iran finished the half with Taremi chipping the keeper but only getting the roof of net. Iran could have extended their lead early in the second half but an unmarked Azmoun missed the target from 12 yards out when Amiri’s long throw arrived at his feet. Taremi’s shot then brought the best out of Oman keeper Faiyz Al Rusheidi, while at the other end Harib Al Saadi fizzed a 77th minute shot inches over Beiranvand’s bar. 

 

With five minutes left a quick counterattack sprung Taremi forward and after a quick give and go with Azmoun he found himself one on one with the keeper but once again the keeper pulled off a spectacular save to deny him. Iran held on to the 2-0 win to advance to the quarterfinals.

 

Iran’s opponent in the quarterfinals was China. 

 

China had the first real chance, passing past Beiranvand from the right flank but with an empty goal at China’s mercy, Rezaian tackled cleanly inside the six yard box to deprive them of the opportunity. 

 

Iran shrugged off the near scare with Azmoun having a firm header cleared off the line by Zheng Zhi and then flashing a shot narrowly wide just later. It took only 18 minutes for Iran to get on the board when Azmoun robbed a hesitant Feng Xiaoting before squaring the ball to Taremi who fired home with ease. 

 

Two minutes later Taremi was clipped from behind in the Chinese box although the ref waived it off. Iran then had a glorious chance to double their advantage when off of Dejagah’s freekick Kananizadegan found Taremi but only to see him somehow miss the target from only three yards out. 

 

Iran’s second was not long in coming, as Azmoun outmuscled Liu Yiming before rounding keeper Yan Junling to score shortly after the half-hour mark. 

 

Following the break Iran kept up the pressure as Taremi and Kananizadegan looped headers narrowly over the bar before Jahanbakhsh curled an effort narrowly wide of Yan’s left-hand upright in the 58^th minute. With China struggling to find a way back into the game, Yan produced a fine stop to deny Hajsafi as Iran threatened to add a third and put the result beyond doubt. 

 

Yu Dabao missed from close range with 10 minutes remaining to realistically end Chinese hopes of a revival, leaving Azmoun to depart the scene to a standing ovation in the final moments. His replacement, Ansarifard, received a perfect ball from Taremi after yet another defensive error to run into the box and net another for Iran. 

 

While the 3-0 scoreline was impressive and a spot in the semifinals had been achieved, the only blemish of the night was Taremi’s yellow card which would keep him out of the next match.

 

Iran entered its semifinal clash with Japan having yet to concede a goal in the tournament. 

 

Iran started aggressively with Amiri replacing the suspended Taremi. Ten minutes into the game Jahanbakhsh almost played in Sardar Azmoun, only for the awareness of Takehiro Tomiyasu to deny him. 

 

Later Japan found space behind Jahanbakhsh and the advancing Yuto Nagatomo sent in a low cross that Takumi Minamino could only steer wide. That, though, sparked a period of Japanese pressure, with Maya Yoshida heading wide from Gaku Shibasaki’s corner while Ritsu Doan dragged his attempt just wide of goal. After playing a brilliant one-two with Amiri and slipping the ball through Takehiro Tomiyasu's legs, Azmoun was denied by Shuichi Gonda who saved well with his foot to make amends after gifting possession to Iran seconds earlier. In the second half Dejagah and Hajisafi both saw their attempts miss the target before a moment of indecision cost Iran the opening goal. Kananizadegan, along with teammates Rezaian, Ebrahimi, Hajsafi and Pouraliganji, turned to protest to the referee following a collision in which they believed Minamino had taken a dive. 

 

While the ref ignored the Iranian pleas, Minamino showed the presence of mind to scamper after the ball and cross it into the vacated box, allowing Osako to head home from close range. 

Jahanbakhsh almost restored parity five minutes later, only for Gonda to tip his freekick over the bar while Pouraliganji headed just off target moments later. But just as Iran were gaining momentum the Japanese doubled their lead. Minamino tried to cut his pass back into the center and the ball struck the sliding Pouraliganji on the arm. 

The ref pointed to the spot and Osako sent Beiranvand the wrong way. 

While the second goal had taken the fight out of the Iranians, in added time Haraguchi added the third with a burst through the defense before smashing his shot past Beiranvand to confirm Japan’s progress to the Final. 

In the dying minutes, Azmoun slapped Gaku Shibasaki in the face, sparking a melee (reminiscent of the two teams’ 1992 clash) that also involved Hajsafi and Rezaian. 

The ultimate 3-0 defeat signaled Iran’s elimination and the end of Queiroz’s eight year reign as national team coach.

 

Iran roster: Beiranvand, Abedzadeh, Niazmand, Ghafouri, Cheshmi, Mohammadi, Pouraliganji, Kananizadegan, Montazeri, Rezaian, Hajsafi, Nourollahi, Shojaei, Ebrahimi, Amiri, Torabi, Dejagah, Ghoddoos, Jahanbakhsh, Ansarifard, Azmoun, Taremi. Coach: Queiroz