But with only those 10 men, Iran still managed to score and then hold off the Koreans to win 1-0 and preserve their hopes of going to the World Cup finals.
It was really an essential victory for Iran. A loss would have pushed the team down into third place. The top two teams go to the World Cup finals.
Iran was pinned in a corner last month when Lebanon, the smallest minnow in the elimination round somehow managed to beat Iran 1-0.
Iran and South Korea are the two powerhouses in their group and are expected to go on to the finals. They really scrapped in Tuesday’s match, played in Tehran. South Korea had never won a game in Tehran—and now that record has been preserved.
The game was a nasty one. It wasn’t just forward Masud Shojai who got kicked off the field. Coach Carlos Queiroz also was ordered off and had to watch the last 10 minutes of the ill-tempered match from the stands. He was punished for leaving the area where coaches are confined once too often.
The winning goal Tuesday was scored in the 75th minute by captain Javad Nekounam from 13 meters out to the delight of the packed crowd at Azadi Stadium, who were expecting the worst when they were reduced to 10 men in the 56th minute. But the send-off appeared to galvanize the home team, which proceeded to take control of the field.
In the 76th minute, Andranik Teymourian booted the ball straight to Nekounam, who was free of defenders and wheeled the ball into a corner of the net.
Iran endured some frightening moments in the final stages. South Korean fullback Yun Suk-young came close to making it a tie, but his curling shot in the 85th minute clipped the top of net.
Singaporean referee Abdul Bashir called for eight minutes of stoppage time—a lengthy period—with Iranian goalkeeper Mehdi Rahmati complaining of injury, but his team pulled through nonetheless.
The win means Iran and Korea top the standings with seven points each halfway through the elimination round. South Korea is in first place based on goal differential.
Shojai was dismissed after he received two quick yellow cards, one in the 46th minute, the second 10 minutes later for a reckless two-footed challenge on Oh Beaom-seok.
The next round of matches will be played November 14.