Iran hold Saudi Arabia in goalless WAFF draw [VIDEO]

PFDC – KUWAIT CITY, Iran kicked off their first match in the WAFF championship with a goalless draw against Saudi Arabia, which exhibited a quite lackluster and uninspiring performance from both sides in the Al-Sadaqua Walsalam Stadium in Kuwait City on Sunday.

While Iran fielded a B team, Saudi relied on a very young squad with some veteran key players in it.

Iran coach Carlos Querioz was seemingly absent from the match, despite reports he would attend whereas Saudi boss Rijkaard only watched from the stands.

Queiroz’ assistants Namazi and Simoes commanded the team from the sideline, but had to do without veteran defender Pejman Montazeri and young playmaker Mohsen Mosalman, who both have not arrived in Kuwait yet.

Iran began with a lively performance, when just 40 seconds into the match Mehrdad Oladi’s impressive shot was parried by the Saudi Arabian goalkeeper.

Team Melli goalkeeper Sousha Makani showed a very consistent performance throughout the match, notably on set pieces.

The Saudi’s most aggressive attempt on goal was in the 22nd minute of the match when Saudi youth gem Al Dosari’s cross led to nail-biting shot which was cleared of the line by Ghasem Dehnavi of Iran.

Team Melli displayed a number of attempts from range, most sailing over the cross bar away from any danger.

Bahrain and Yemen concluded group B’s matchday 1 Sunday evening with Bahrain winning the close contest 1-0 thanks to a late Jaycee John strike.

Hosts Kuwait opened their WAFF Cup campaign after edging Palestine 2-1, while Lebanon prevailed against Oman, 1-0 o Saturday.

Iran – Saudi Arabia 0-0
WAFF 2012, Group B, Kuwait City

Iran’s Lineup: Makani – Fakhredini, Khanzadeh, Khalilzadeh, Pouladi – Dehnavi, O. Nazari, Milad Nouri – Sadeghian (O. Ebrahimi), Oladi (M. Nazari), Y. Karimi (Hassanzadeh)

Below come the highlights on PFDCTV: