AYG Football: Iran clinically despatch China 2-0 to claim bronze medal

By Julian Low and Gerald Goh/Red Sports

Jalan Besar Stadium, Monday, July 6, 2009 - The Islamic Republic of Iran's efficient performance saw them overcome the People's Republic of China 2-0 to secure third place in the Asian Youth Games football competition.

With the bronze medal to play for, both teams sent out their strongest sides, with China's star striker Yan Peng and Iran's playmaker-captain Bahman Jahantigh present in their respective line-ups.

Both teams started out brightly, seizing their chances in attack. But it was China that had the first sight on goal. Wang Yaopeng was through on goal after an excellent pass from midfield but goalkeeper Meisam Labbaf was alert and cleared the ball just in time.

China had another chance just minutes later, when Yan Peng charged into the box with the ball. But defender Omid Tavakoli made a last-ditch tackle before Yan Peng could pull the trigger.

With China not making their half-chances count, it was Iran that took the lead.

Taking a quick corner, Bahman crossed the ball into the box, which was promptly headed into the back of the net by Armin Sohrabian. The Iranian defender left his marker for dead and rose unchallenged to head the ball as the Chinese defence were punished for their lapse in concentration.

Not satisfied with just a single goal, Iran continued to pour forward in attack. Bahman was a constant threat to the Chinese, making dangerous runs and taking long distance shots.

He would again be involved for his team's second goal. Starting off from his own half in a counter-attack, Bahman went on a surging run towards the Chinese goal. As he got nearer to the box, he unselfishly laid the ball to Sivash Haghnazari. The striker still had his marker to beat, but he muscled his way through before placing the ball to the corner of the net.

The second half saw a rejuvenated China attempting to make inroads on the Iranian defence. China had a 47th minute goal disallowed for a foul on Meisam, before Tang Shi bent a free-kick just wide of goal.

With the play opening up, Iran's Saeid Aghaei Nojehdeh constant switching between the flanks led to a 58th minute opportunity as the Iranian released Siavash Haghnazari, whose pace and trickery led him into the box, only for him to lose possession after one too many dummies.

Siavash's pace was on show again barely three minutes later, leaving his marker chasing shadows as he took the ball past Chinese ´keeper Jia Xinyao. With the goal completely unguarded, it took a desperate lunge from a Chinese player to eventually clear Siavash's subsequent cross into the box.

Iran's Arash Esmaeli kept China's Liang Xueming well-shackled down the left flank, but Liang's rare foray past the Iranian-right-back saw his cross headed just wide by Yan Peng.

With China monopolising possession and the Iranians opting to venture forward only on the counter-attack, Iranian Seyedreza Mirahmadi’s stumble allowed Jiang Dongnan to feed Yan Peng, with the ball dropping kindly for the China forward to ram a point-blank bullet at Meisam's midriff. The impact was so great that it required treatment for the winded ´keeper.

Bahman began a 74th-minute solo run from his own half, nudging the ball out to Siavash who laid a nice reverse pass back into Bahman's path, but the Iranian captain could only dribble the ball into the waiting hands of Jia.

As the clock wound down and China's hopes of making a comeback began to disappear, Bahman booted a superb stoppage-time pass to substitute Mohsen Ghieibi, who had acres of space to square the ball for Siavash, but the latter failed to make it 3-0.

Bahman still found time to flick a shot at goal which was expertly turned away by Jia's leg, as the final whistle blew and the hubbub of Iranian cheers rose to a crescendo.

Iranian coach Mohammad Yavari felt his team had improved after Saturday's 1-0 loss against North Korea. "We had to forget the loss. We tried to improve our defence, attack from the right side (of midfield) to solve the problem. Unfortunately we cannot play in the final, but that is football."

Iranian captain Bahman Jahantigh had this to say: "I'm delighted (at clinching third place) and happy to take part, only we failed in our chance to be champions.” He added that they only failed to perform in one match, namely against North Korea, and he appreciated the hospitality shown by Singapore.

China coach Zhu Jinxing felt his team allowed Iran too much space in the first half. "The players' attitude is a bit of a problem. The strategy was alright, but the spirit was not there. I'm satisfied with their second-half performance, they tried their best. Congratulations to Iran," he concluded sportingly.

China captain and top-scorer Yan Peng was happy about scoring seven goals in total, but was upset he didn't get to score in this match. Winger Liang Xueming was more critical of his team: "We never took our chances, our defence was not very good so it was very easy for the opposition to score.”

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