Iran and UAE reach last eight
Mabkhout scores after 14 just seconds
SYDNEY: Sardar Azmoun’s fabulous solo goal earned Iran a 1-0 win over Qatar and a place in the Asian Cup quarter-finals alongside United Arab Emirates yesterday.
Solid Qatari defending kept Iran at bay until shortly after half-time in Sydney when Azmoun’s instinctive touch and shot ended their resistance and sent a partisan crowd wild.
Carlos Queiroz’s Team Melli are now into the quarter-finals for the sixth time in a row and continue to look strong contenders to break their 39-year Asian Cup drought.
But Qatar crashed out just weeks after winning the Gulf Cup in November and they exit Group C alongside Bahrain, eliminated after a 2-1 loss to UAE earlier.
As Iranian fans celebrated outside the stadium, Queiroz, who has worked with Real Madrid, Manchester United and Portugal, hailed Azmoun’s strike as “brilliant”.
“It was a brilliant goal. It was a special movement of the centre-forward, a great turn at the level of some of the best centreforwards I have worked with in my life,” he said.
Qatari coach Djamel Belmadi said despite a huge improvement on their 4-1 loss to UAE, his team had paid dearly for their errors against Iran.
“I said to them, at this level you pay cash for any kind of mistakes. That’s what happened today. I hope they learn from it,” he said.
Noisy Iranian fans made for a festive atmosphere at Stadium Australia but the party did not get going on the pitch as the three-times champions struggled to break down a resilient Qatar side.
Rubin Kazan forward Azmoun, a former target of Premier League giants Arsenal and Liverpool, was in the thick of the action and had a header saved early on.
The Qatari defence also reacted sharply to smother another promising chance when Ashkan Dejagah picked out the young striker in the box.
As half-time beckoned, Morteza Pouraliganji had a header cleared off the line and the busy, Qatar-based Dejagah cut in from the right and fired across the face of goal.
Iran looked to be running out of ideas until Azmoun lit up the Sydney evening and ignited the crowd with his fabulous touch and goal on 52 minutes.
When former Fulham man Dejagah picked out Azmoun on the edge of the box, the 20-year-old still had much to do to evade the attentions of defender Abdelkarim Hassan.
But in a moment of supreme quality, he dragged the ball between his legs and into space in the box, before sweeping it into the bottom right-hand corner.
Azmoun’s joy was short-lived and he was stretchered off and limped to the bench on the hour-mark, as Qatar threw on Khalfan Ibrahim, the player the country call “Maradona”.
However, the diminutive Ibrahim was unable to turn the tide and instead it was Iran who had chances on the counterattack as Qatar poured forward in search of an equaliser.
In a late scare, Ali Asadalla Thaimn hit Iran’s post with an injury-time header but the effort was offside, and Queiroz sank to his knees in joy as the final whistle blew.
In Canberra, UAE striker Ali Mabkhout scored after 14 seconds yesterday — the fastest goal in Asian Cup history — to propel his side towards a 2-1 win over Bahrain.
The victory marked the first time UAE had won their opening two matches at the tournament.
Omar Abdulrahman clipped a superb ball over the top of Bahrain’s defence and Mabkhout calmly controlled it with his right foot before slotting past goalkeeper Sayed Abbas with his left.
It was Mabkhout’s third goal of the Asian Cup after a double in UAE’s opening 4-1 win against Qatar on Sunday, making him the tournament’s top scorer.
Quick goals have been scored at the competition before, notably China’s Xie Yuxin in 1992 and Kuwaiti Fat’hi Kameil in 1976 which both came in the first minute, but organisers said Mabkhout’s was the quickest ever.
“I’m so happy about that,” the forward said.
Midfield wizard Abdulrahman, whose idol is France great Zinedine Zidane, was named man of the match and was equally delighted about his good friend’s strike.
“I’m very close to Mabkhout and I’m delighted he’s scored three already,” said Abdulrahman. “I will work hard to help him score more.”