Iran beat archrival South Korea in Seoul [VIDEO]

Afshin Ghotbi again chose a 4-3-3 formation, unlike the 2-0 victory against China last friday, Osasuna midfielder Masoud Shojaei and Sepahan’s Ehsan Hajsafi returned to the starting line-up.

South Korea started to play very aggressively and were close to take the lead in the third minute after a terrible blunder of Iran’s central defender Hadi Aghily. Iran goalie Mehdi Rahmati saved the shot of the Korean striker from close range.

After 15 minutes the Iranian football national team was able to assume control of the match. The Koreans were focused on their defense while the Iranians started to intensify their attacking game.

Osasuna’s Javad Nekounam (14′, 38′) and Malavan’s Pejman Nouri (30′) had good opportunities for Iran. On the other side Manchester United’s Park Ji-sung tried to fool defender Jalal Hosseini in the penalty area, the 28-year old was able to deflect his shot to the endline.

Again it was Park who had a golden chance in the penalty area after a nice cross pass by Park Chu-young but the right-wing defender Nosrati blocked his shot (32′).

The South Korean defense was perhaps inspired by Hadi Aghily’s blunder early in the game as Iran midfielder Pejman Nouri could intercept a disastrous return pass from a Korean defender and easily served Masoud Shojaei who had no problems to lob the ball over the Korean goalie into the net (36′).

Second Half – same problem as usual

Striker Karim Ansarifard who came in for the injured Gholami, had the biggest opportunity to ensure Iran’s first victory in South Korea after many years. Teymourian benefited from another mistake in the Korean rearguard and served the unmarked Ansarifard who wasted a real 100%er amateurishly.

In further consequence the hosts played more offensive-minded and with more dynamism. Monaco’s Park Chu-young had a nice chance to equalize, his shot was saved by the outstanding Rahmati. His freekick several minutes later missed the goal.

Iran’s attacking game completely vanished. South Korea tried to increase the pressure on Iran’s backline but the Iranians were either lucky or the host was simply not smart enough to break through their defense. Four minutes into the extra-time the Koreans again failed to score the equalizer.

Iran clearly showed a sign of life after two important friendly victories. Especially the brilliant win against South Korea should increase the self-confidence of Team Melli ahead of the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar.

Afshin Ghotbi succeeded in temporarily silencing his strongest critics. In fact the majority of the supporters didn’t expect to see their favorites returning from the East-Asia tour without conceding a goal despite a usually weak defense.

Iran goali Mehdi Rahmati was named as “man of the match” after the final whistle.

South Korea – Iran 0-1 (0-1)
Friendly, Seoul

Goal:
0-1 Masoud Shojaei (36’/assist by Pejman Nouri)

Iran: Rahmati – Nosrati, Hosseini, Aghily, Hajsafi – P. Nouri (84′ Omranzadeh), Nekounam, Teymourian – Rezaei (78′ Khalatbari), Shojaei (94′ Noroozi) – Gholami (36′ Ansarifard)

booked:
Hadi Aghily (34′)
Mohammad Nosrati (81′)
Andranik Teymourian (95′)