Gareth Bale-Aaron Ramzid was nowhere to be found in the second half. In front of Iran’s Daput football, they remained as their own shadow. Iran could not see the goal despite creating strong pressure. After passing through many stages of despair, the round mouth opened at the very end. They sent the ball into the net twice in three minutes. Carlos Queiroz’s team left the field with a smile of victory after defeating Wales.
Iran won the Group B match 2-0 at the Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium on Friday. This is their first win in the current tournament and the third win for Asian countries.
At one point, it seemed that the match would end in a draw. Iran had two shots on the post within seconds early in the second half. Wales were somehow blocking their attacks.
The big blow came in the 86th minute when goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey was shown an unnecessary red card. Wales had to play with 10 men in the last few moments of intense nervous pressure. At that time, two defenders of Iran created the gap. Rozbeh Cheshmi gave the team the lead in the eighth minute of added time. Ramin Rezaian doubled the lead.
Starting the season with a 6-2 defeat against England, Iran’s improvement was evident from the start. Their defense was as fragile against the English as it was against Wales.
Wales had the first good chance in a clash between two teams looking for a first win. In the twelfth minute, the Iranian goalkeeper blocked Kiefer Moore’s shot from Connor Roberts’ cross.
