Sharifi, Sayyad take Iran into quarters

Margao, October 17 

Iran played a tactical game to outwit Mexico 2-1 and set up a clash with Spain in the quarterfinals.

Iran exploited the rival’s weak defence to score through Mohammed Sharifi (7th) and Allahyar Sayyad (11th). Mexico attacked from the word go and created several chances, but they were either off-target or failed to beat the rival keeper Ali Gholam Zadeh.

However, Mexico managed to reduce the margin in the 37th minute through Roberto De la Rosa. After Mexico were down by two goals, they played quick short passes to unsettle Iran’s defence, who were playing with five defenders. Each time Iran’s defence fell apart, it was keeper Zadeh who came up with some smart saves, especially in the second half, to deny the Americans a chance to score goals. Iran, knowing that Mexico are good in the attack, adopted a cautious approach to keep their rivals attacking moves at bay and waited for opportunities to punish Mexico’s weak defence.

Iran earned a penalty in the 7th minute when Mexico defender Adrian Vazquez brought down Mohammed Ghaderi while going for the ball inside the box and referee Anthony Taylor had no hesitation in awarding the penalty, which Sharifi converted successfully. — PTI