Iran’s U-23 fails to reach Asian final [VIDEO]

PTV – GUANGZHOU, Iran’s under-23 soccer team has failed to reach the final match of the 2010 Asian Games after losing 2-1 to Japan in the semifinal of the tournament.

Iranian striker Arash Afshin opened the scoring for Iran on six minutes when he picked up a ball whipped in from the right.

Kota Mizunuma drew Japan level seven minutes before the break and Kensuke Nagai grabbed the winner on 60 minutes.

The Iranian side, led by manager Gholamhossein Peyrovani, was unfortunate that could not level the game after creating many opportunities after Japan’s second goal.

Sixteen minutes from time, Karim Ansarifard put the ball into the net only to be judged offside.

Several minutes later, Hamidreza Ali Asgari hit the post and had a penalty appeal turned down, but Japan held on for a narrow victory.

Peyrovani said that his side did not deserve to lose, adding that he was content with the players’ performance, but some mistakes by Iran’s defenders led to the defeat.

“This is not the end of our team’s job and we should get ready for bigger and harder events,” he added.

Four-time champion Iran won the competition in 1974, 1990, 1998 and 2002 but missed the title in the 2006 Asian Games in Doha when Qatar claimed the title.