June 22, 2018
Just as Iran won its first game of the World Cup finals on a fluke, so it lost its second game on a fluke—actually on two flukes.
Iran fell to Spain 1-0 after trying very skillfully to play to a scoreless tie. For the entire first half, Iran played superb defense, sometimes having all 11 Iranian players between the ball and the goal. Iran periodically made breakaway attacks on Spain, but they produced nothing. Spain had possession of the ball 82 percent of the time in the first half, but got off only a single shot on goal, showing just how tight the Iranian defense was.
In the 54th minute, Iran was continuing its brick wall defense. But then it ran into a brick wall itself. Spain’s Andres Iniesta slotted the ball inside the box to Spanish star Diego Costa. But Iran’s Majid Hossaini got to the ball first and kicked it to clear it far from the goal. The ball instead ricocheted off Costa’s knee and bounced into the goal net before goalie Ali-Reza Beiranvand had a chance to react.
Fox Sports and the AP reported that it was Costa who kicked the ball, which deflected off an Iranian player and then bounced off Costa’s knee into the goal. But The New York Times said replays showed that was wrong and that the ball was actually kicked by Hossaini. Costa is still credited with the goal since he was the last to touch it—albeit involuntarily—before it went into the net.
Costa is Spain’s main scorer. He had two goals in Spain’s opening game against Portugal and has nine goals altogether in his last nine starts for Spain.
With Iran down 1-0, Coach Carlos Queiroz launched an aggressive offense in an effort to tie up the game. Iran showed much spark and was able to control the ball more often. The aggressive effort paid off in the 64th minute when Saeed Ezzatollahi cracked the ball into the net for the tying goal.
But a side judge signaled that Ezzatollahi was offside. An off-the-field judge checked the video and ruled Ezzatollahi was indeed offside. The tying goal was taken off the scoreboard.
Iran continued to make some attacks on offense, but they went nowhere as Spain now defended well. The game ended with Spain the 1-0 winner.
The July 20 game stats were also grim. Iran did not manage even a single shot on goal—since Ezzatollahi’s recalled score was also a recalled shot on goal. Although Iran played more offensively in the second half, Spain still maintained possession 68 percent of the time for the game as a whole. It had five shots on goal, four in the second half.
With this win, Spain was unbeaten in its last 22 matches, with 15 of those games wins and seven draws.
Iran came away with no points. The AP said Iran’s “restless defensive display was impressive.” But that doesn’t rack up points. Queiroz tried the same active defense four years ago in the last World Cup against Argentina. The strategy worked until second half injury time when Lionel Messi penetrated the defensive wall just once and scored.