October 18-2013
The national soccer squad defeated Thailand 2-1 at Azadi stadium Tuesday to remain atop Group B with half the games now played in the Asian Cup elimination round.
Group B has four teams. Thailand has not won any of its three matches and remains at the bottom of the standings. The second and third placed teams—Kuwait, which had been tied with Iran on points, and Lebanon—played to a 1-1 tie in Beirut. That meant they each got only one point and Kuwait fell behind Iran in points. Iran now has seven points, to five for Kuwait, four for Lebanon and none for Thailand.
Steven Mehrdad Beitashour, the first Iranian-American ever asked to play with the team, was not a starter but was brought in as a substitute in the 76th minute. That means Beitashour and is now committed to play for Iran and cannot play with the US national team. Beitashour was born in the United States of Iranian parents.
Two other expats were also on the team roster.
Goalie Daniel Davari, who was born in Germany of an Iranian father and a Polish mother, made his first appearance with the Iranian team after almost a year spent trying to get him there. But he spent the entire game on the bench.
The other expat was Reza Ghoochan-nejad of Belgium who has played for Iran before. He was in the starting lineup and scored one goal for Iran.
The game was frustrating as Iran dominated the visiting Thais but was unable to score at all until the game was three-fourths complete. The team did not seem glued together and couldn’t put together a polished drive. Then in just three minutes Jalal Hossaini scored in the 67th minute and Ghoochan-nejad in the 70th.
Terrasil Dangda got a goal for Thailand in the 80th minute, but that was all the Thais, who have been whipping boys in the tourney so far, managed to score. The Thais have scored three goals and given up 10 in their three matches.
Despite the win, Iran coach Carlos Queiroz lamented the disjointed performance of his team, who had not played since a 1-0 win over South Korea in a World Cup qualifier in June. He used the jumbled performance to criticize the Iranian government, which has canceled all foreign trips for practice matches because of the budget crunch.
“I think after four months without preparations and friendlies, it was natural to see our team put out a dull performance in the first period when there was an obvious lack of organization. However, our players gradually got better and they improved all the way through the match to the end,” said the Portuguese.
“For sure, it was not a good game for us and also the result did not exactly show the effort we put into the game as we missed a couple of very good chances and Thailand’s goal was an accident.
“But tonight’s match should be regarded as a wake-up call for Iranian soccer as there is no soccer team in the world that can survive after staying four complete months in the absolute wilderness,” Queiroz said.
This elimination round has five groups of four teams each. The top two teams in each group plus the best third-placed team will advance to the finals.