The Iranian national team took the majority – Newspaper Kommersant No. 220 (7421) of 11/26/2022
[ad_1]
In the match of the second round in Group B of the World Cup in Qatar between the national teams of Iran and Wales, which, it seemed, could well end in a goalless draw, everything was decided by an exceptionally dramatic ending – with the removal of the Welsh goalkeeper Wayne Hennessy and two Iranian goals at the curtain of stoppage time, which brought them an important victory with a score of 2:0, and the opponents, it seems, have deprived them of a real chance of reaching the playoffs.
This match immediately hinted to those who decided to watch it with a promise that it would not be boring. The Wales team appeared a little more brazen than it was in the opening round game against the Americans. The Iranian national team has changed a lot after the devastating defeat from the British in every sense: a new scheme with a compacted defensive line, new people at the base, including, of course, Serdar Azmun, who was sent by coach Carlos Queiroz to revive the attack, and, it seems, in principle, new installations – on activity, the desire to provoke an opponent into a mistake at all costs.
As a result, football turned out to be quite good. The Welsh national team strained the Iranian defense with their pressure and created a good moment for Kieffer Moore, who, in a fall, tried to stick the ball into the goal, but hit Seyed Hossein, who replaced the main goalkeeper Alireza Beiranwand (in the match with the English team, his nose was broken).
The Iranians diligently did their homework, looking for opportunities to intercept the ball, and opponents were happy to help them from time to time.
It was Connor Roberts who helped best of all, who gave the ball in his own half, across the field, without having any specific addressee. The blunder resulted in a loss, an Iranian lunge and one of the strangest offensive mistakes of this championship.
Two Iranian footballers – Serdar Azmoun and Ali Golizadeh – easily passed all the few Welshmen who found themselves on the way, and at the end of this raid, Azmun rolled the ball to his partner past goalkeeper Wayne Hennessy – well, so that his friend scored into an empty net. If hockey rules were applied in football, this goal would then be savored, endlessly showing the brightest moments of the tournament in video compilations. But Golizade, already scoring, realized that no goal would be added to his track record: after all, Azmun, in front of whom there was no one but the goalkeeper, passed forward, which means it was offside. And to fix it, even VAR is not needed – everything is so obvious. And Serdar Azmun probably cursed himself for what the world is worth: he could have beaten himself, why complicate everything?
But the match, which was fun at first, had a rather boring continuation. The Wales team narrowly escaped trouble by becoming more accurate, and centre-back Joe Rodon found a remarkable reading of the game, cleaning up the other Welsh players on several occasions. And on the opposite half, crosses from Ethan Ampadu and Connor Roberts did not pose any threat, and Gareth Bale and Kieffer Moore constantly got stuck in Iranian traps. All the achievements in the first half of Bale, the Welsh leader, were reduced, in fact, to the standard earned once at the penalty line on the side of the goal after a powerful breakthrough. The promising free-kick team of Wales, however, ruined it.
And after the break, not even a chance, but a chance ruined by the Iranian team. The indefatigable Rodon for the first time failed to stop the Iranian attack, and Azmun, who had jumped to the penalty area, shot Wayne Hennessy like a cheetah. The ball hit the post, but flew back to the Iranians. A second later, Golizade was already spinning him into a corner, and again the bar took the blow. But that was not all, because the rebound went to Azmun, who hit his head at close range and did not see any obstacles in front of him, because Hennessy was lying on the lawn. The goalkeeper, however, was miraculously able to react to finishing off.
After that, the situation on the field has actually changed radically. If before the Wales team at least pretended to be a self-confident favorite, not intending to cede territory, now it was exclusively the Iranians who pressed.
And the degree of pressure grew and grew – the trend did not stop even after Queiroz removed Azmun, who was exhausted by jerks, to the bench. The Welsh held on somehow, to the sighs of the sectors of the stands who sympathized with them, who watched with horror, say, how Hennessy pulled out a kick into the corner from Said Ezzatollahi, and later, at the end of the match, jumped out of the penalty area for Mehdi Taremi, who went one on one , in order to, having missed the ball with a long leg, in a rugby style, knock out the forward with his shoulder. Referee Mario Escobar at first, apparently, did not want to remove the goalkeeper, but VAR, of course, forced him to take the first red card of the tournament out of his pocket.
It seemed that in the minority, with less seasoned than Hennessy, Danny Ward at the gate, the Wales team would still survive. She could not resist, although it was necessary to endure just a minute or two, as usual, a gigantic stoppage time. The Welsh were killed by Ruzbe Cheshmi, who settled down in front of the penalty area, picked up the ball and fired from two dozen meters almost perfectly, who wanted to get to the front in such a timely manner. And then, trying to save themselves on the flag, the Welsh ran into the Iranian half, of course, ran into a counterattack and another goal – from Ramin Rezayan – and, it seems, lost the play-off (in the first round they played a draw – 1:1 – with the US team).
The second match in this group, in which the national teams of England and the United States met, ended late in the evening Moscow time.
Second round
Wales-Iran 0:2
Cheshmi, 90+8; Rezayan, 90+11. Sent off: Hennessy (Wales), 86 (f.p.n.).
November 25. Er Rayyan, Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium. 40,875 spectators.
Match statistics
Wales Iran
Shots on goal 10 21
shots on target 3 6
Corners 2 7
Offsides 2 2
fouls 9 10
Warnings 1 2
Deletes 1 0
Percentage of possession 62 38
[ad_2]
Source link