Asian Cup Championship Candidate Japan Loses 1-2 to Iran

Asian Cup ‘Championship Candidate’ Japan Loses 1-2 to Iran… Eliminated in the Quarterfinals

Iran comes back with consecutive goals in the second half... Azmun performs well on the front lines without Taremi.

Japan, which was considered a candidate to win the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, was eliminated in the quarterfinals after losing to Iran, the leader of the Middle East.

Iran advanced to the semifinals by defeating Japan 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the 2023 AFC Qatar Asian Cup held at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar on the 3rd.

Iran, which defeated its 'difficult enemy' Japan, will now compete with the winner among the hosts and defending champions Qatar and Uzbekistan to advance to the finals. 온라인카지노

Iran's last victory was in 1976, and if it stands at the top of Asia in this tournament, it will win for the first time in 48 years.

On the other hand, Japan (4 times), the team that has won the most Asian Cups, was aiming for its 5th trophy in this tournament, but turned away after failing to reach the semifinals.

The two teams have the highest FIFA rankings among AFC teams.

Japan is 17th and Iran is 21st.

Korea ranked 23rd, third after these two countries.

Iran struggled throughout the first half, giving up the first goal to midfielder Hidemasa Morita.

In the 28th minute of the first half, Hidemasa Morita advanced into the penalty box with a 2-on-1 pass with Ayase Ueda near the halfway line, momentarily bypassed all Iranian defenses and kicked a right-footed shot in front of the goal.

Because it was slightly off, the shot didn't have much power, but it hit goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand's foot and was deflected, hitting the net.

Even in the first half, Iran felt the absence of its main player, Mehdi Taremi, who was unable to play that day due to being sent off for accumulating warnings in the round of 16 match against Syria.

In 45 minutes, they took 7 shots, more than Japan (4), but only 1 of them was effective.

However, as the second half began, Iran succeeded in completely turning the tide of the game.

Goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, who had been criticized since the group stage for his unstable handling of the ball in the last row, gave up a goal due to a passing mistake.

In the 10th minute of the second half, Sardar Azmoun's penetrating pass into the penalty box was connected by Mohammad Mohebi with a shot into the bottom corner opposite the goal to make it 1-1.

Azmoun, who recorded an assist, received a long pass from behind eight minutes later, beat two defenders in the penalty area, and directly hit the net.

However, offside was declared by a narrow margin, and the score was invalidated.

As the initiative was taken away from Azumoon, coach Hajime Moriyasu decided to replace Kubo in the 22nd minute of the second half with winger Kaoru Mitoma of Brighton & Hove Albion (England), whose main strength was his strength.

However, except for the left flank, where Mitoma occasionally made a direct breakthrough, no cool offensive development took place, and Iran also failed to seize any significant opportunities, resulting in a lull.

The joys and sorrows of the two teams diverged just before the end of the game.

In the added time of the second half, in a mixed situation at the goal, Hossein Canani drew a penalty kick following a foul by Go Itakura.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh, who took over as the kicker, opened the goal guarded by Zion Suzuki with a powerful right-footed shot, completing a thrilling comeback.