Spain stroll past static Iran to reach semis, face Mali
COMPREHENSIVE SHOW La Roja play possession game to shut their opponents out, taking 21 shots at the goal SPAIN BUILT THEIR ATTACKS THROUGH THEIR FLOWING PASSING AND THE IRANIANS COULDN’T TOUCH THE
BALL FOR LONG SPELLS.
European champions Spain produced a quality exhibition of tiki-taka as they decimated Iran 3-1 to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA U-17 World Cup here on Sunday.
Captain Abel Ruiz gave Spain the lead in the 13th minute before Sergio Gomez (60th) and Ferran Torres (67th) added a goal each.
For Iran, Saeid Karimi pulled one back in the 69th minute at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium.
Spain, seeking their maiden title, now meet African champions Mali in Navi Mumbai.
Spain were the overwhelmingly dominant side with nearly 70% possession. They had seven shots on target while Iran barely had any chance except for one in the closing stages of the match.
But for some fine saves by their goalkeeper Ali Gholam Zadeh, Iran would have lost by a bigger margin.
Valencia youth team winger Ferran Torres created a lot of problems for Iran throughout the match with his speedy runs and crosses from the right flank.
It was a completely different and defensive Iran and they did not look like a side, who were unbeaten in the tournament. They sorely missed suspended striker Younes Delfi who had scored twice in shock upset win over Germany in the group stage.
Spain built their attacks through their flowing passing and the Iranians couldn’t touch the ball for long spells.One such spell resulted to the first goal, which came after 26 uninterrupted touches by the Spaniards from which Ruiz scored. Torres got the better of his marker on the right flank and sent a long cross for Sergio Gomez who, in turn, squared it to Ruiz at the center of the Iran box.
Barcelona youth team striker Ruiz’s first shot hit a defender
KOCHI:
built from the rebound he made no mistake with his right footer finding the left side of the net with a diving goalkeeper unable to reach the ball.
Spain had two fine chances to increase the lead but Iran goalkeeper Ali Gholam Zadeh kept the scoreline 1-0 with two fine saves, in the 19th minute and the 34th.
A flowing start to the second half saw Spain push for a second goal. At the hour mark, another Barcelona youth team player Sergio Gomez took the game out of Iran’s reach with a spectacular strike from well outside the box that hit the underside of the crossbar and went in.
Iran pressed forward in search of a goal and left spaces behind for Spain to make further inroads. In one such flowing move, Mohamad Moukhliss delivered an -perfect low cross from the right which Torres tapped in to make it 3-0 in the 67th minute.
Iran did get their goal two minutes later when a long ball from defence met the head of Allahyar Sayyad whose diagonal flick found Saeid Karimi who nodded home.