Asian Cup Iran Wins on Penalties Against Syria
Asian Cup Iran Wins on Penalties Against Syria… Clash with Japan in Quarterfinals
Iran won a hard-fought victory over Syria and advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup and will play a "big match" against Japan.
In the round of 16 of the tournament held at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar on the 1st (Korean time), Iran was tied 1-1 for 120 minutes until extra time with Syria, and won 5-3 in a penalty shootout to advance to the quarterfinals.
Iran will compete with Japan, who defeated Bahrain 3-1, to advance to the semifinals at 8:30 p.m. on the 3rd.
Japan and Iran are strong teams representing East Asia and West Asia, respectively.
In the FIFA rankings, Japan ranks 17th, the highest among Asian countries, and the next highest is Iran at 21st.
It was expected that the tournament match between the two teams would take place until the finals, but contrary to expectations, Japan finished second in Group D and advanced to the round of 16, forcing them to face each other early.
Iran, which won the Asian Cup three times in a row from the 1968 tournament to the 1976 tournament, is attempting to win the championship for the fourth time in total and for the first time in 48 years.
Japan, which holds the record for winning the most tournaments (4 times), is attempting to win for the 5th time in total and for the first time in 13 years since the 2011 tournament.
On this day, Iran"s main striker, Mehdi Taremi, was sent off due to accumulating warnings and was unable to play against Japan, which is a big bad news for Iran.
Iran took the lead with Taremi"s penalty kick goal in the 34th minute of the first half.
Earlier, Taremi induced a foul from Syrian defender Ayham Owusu.
Iran dominated the game with a ball possession rate of close to 70%.
However, the front line strikers such as Taremi and Sardar Azmun looked somewhat dull.
Then, the momentum of the game changed when Iranian goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand donated a penalty kick midway through the second half.
Beiranvand committed a foul by stepping on the foot of Syrian striker Pablo Sabagh, and Korea referee Kim Jong-hyuk declared a penalty kick after an on-field review.
Omar Karvin, who played as a kicker, calmly scored a shot in the 19th minute of the second half to tie the game.
Iran was outnumbered at the end of the second half when Taremi was sent off for accumulating warnings.
Taremi, who had previously received a yellow card for simulation, received a second warning in the 46th minute of the second half after blocking an opponent dribbling from the side with a rough foul.
Iran, which did not concede a goal despite the crisis, survived the extra period and entered the penalty shootout.
Beiranvand blocked the shot of Syria"s second kicker, and all five of Iran"s kickers succeeded.