Iran gear up for Asian Cup by beating Angola
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Loading...PFDC – AL RAYYAN, An injury time goal by Javad Nekounam gave Iran a 1-0 victory over Angola in Team Melli’s final test, nine days ahead of their Asian Cup opener against defending champions Iraq.
There was bad news for the Iranian fans already ahead of the game, because the Asian Football Confederation forbid any spectators or cameras in order not to prematurely reveal the Asian Cup stadium. Amazing that an organization unable to take care of the most basic issues in football, such as ensuring fair competition by having the final World Cup qualifiers being played simultaniously, suddenly worries about such banalities.
However, Iran, starting in a 4-3-3 formation with three defensive minded midfielders but two offensive minded fullbacks, dominated the Angolan national team, who arrived in Qatar without any foreign based players, as they are preparing for the African Championship of Nations, where only domestic players are eligible.
But Team Melli, despite creating a handful of chances, had problems finding the back of the net. When it already looked like it would be Iran’s third game in a row without scoring a goal, skipper Javad Nekounam hammered the ball into the net from outside the area in the second minute of injury time.
The other teams in Iran’s group had mixed fortunes in their friendly matches on Sunday.
Iraq, despite a Younis Mahmoud brace, suffered a 2-3 defeat to China in their final friendly ahead of the Asian Cup, while the UAE defeated Syria 2-0.
DPR Korea, who defeated Qatar 1-0 on Friday, will play Bahrain on Tuesday while the UAE will still take on Australia on Wednesday.
Iran will take on Iraq on January 11th, on DPR Korea four days later and on the UAE on January 19th in Group D.
Iran – Angola 1-0 (0-0)
Friendly match, Al Rayyan
Goal: 1-0 Javad Nekounam (92′)
Iran: Rahmati – Heydari, Aghily, Hosseini, Hajsafi – Teymourian (46′ M. Nouri), Nekounam, P. Nouri (46′ Mobali) – Rezaei (46′ Khalatbari), Ansarifard (46′ Gholami / 85′ R. Norouzi), Shojaei (80′ Afshin)
