Iran beats Guinea in U-17 World Cup opener
Iran got off to a flying start in its campaign at the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 in India as the Asian side overcame Guinea by a 3-1 scoreline on Saturday.
Allahyar Sayyad broke the deadlock in Goa’s Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium through a magnificent longrange effort from outside the box on the hour mark to put Iran in front.
Mohammad Sharifi doubled Iran’s lead from the penalty spot ten minutes later after Cherif Camara’s rash challenge in the box saw him sent off for a second yellow card.
Saeid Karimi capitalized on a mistake by goalkeeper Ibrahima Sylla in the closing minutes to put Abbas Chamanian’s team in the driving seat through an easy victory, however, the Africans showed fight at the death as Fandje Touré added a consolation goal in the second-half stoppage time to make the final result 3-1.
“We took a firm first step against an in-form African side. As I had said before, the first match of every tournament is a crucial one,” Chamanian said after the game.
“I told my players right after the match to forget about Guinea and concentrate on our next fixture against Germany and further games. This was just our first step of a long way through the competition,” Iran’s coach added.
The victory put Iran on top of the Group C of the competition by goal difference. Elsewhere in the group, Germany edged Costa Rica 2-1 to go level on points with Iran.
Next for Iran is a battle against Germany on Tuesday.