Iran celebrates after 4-0 trashing of Lebanon [VIDEO]

Persianfootball.com – TEHRAN, An outstanding performance of the Iranian football national team resulted in a 4-0 trashing of Lebanon in today’s World Cup 2014 qualifier in front of a sensational crowd at the Azadi Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Carlos Queiroz’ men started well into an important step towards the World Cup 2014 in Brazil. Unsurprisingely, the hosts dominated the Lebanese visitors throughout the whole match.

Iran initially pushed forward through the wingers, Osasuna’s Masoud Shojaei and Ajman club legionnaire Mohammad-Reza Khalatbari while the Lebanese started to mix concrete 30 metres in front of the goal which, in a manner of speaking, seemed to work for the first 30 minutes of the match.

Khalatbari finally scored the opener in the 39th minute after a nice one-man show in the Lebanese box. Iran captain Javad Nekounam put his stamp on Iran’s overall refreshing performance by scoring the relieving 2-0 lead just before the half time whistle.

Standard Liège legionnaire Reza Ghoochannejhad with a hammer from close range (46′) and Javad Nekounam with a brilliant shot (87′) secured a well deserved victory over an absent Lebanese football national team.

Although Iran showed one of its best performances during the World Cup 2014 campaign, a drop of bitterness still exists as Team Melli should have outclassed a rival which was already knocked out. Despite a weak conversion of chances, Iran opened the magic door to Brazil widely as Uzbekistan was defeated by the South Koreans 1-0 in Seoul.

South Korea is now the table-topper of Group A with 14 points, Iran is back on track on second position with 13 points and a goal difference of +5, which will be essential in the final round on next Tuesday. Uzbekistan is on third position with 11 points, whereas Qatar and Lebanon are out of the race.

On next Tuesday, Iran will meet South Korea at the Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium, at the same time Uzbekistan will face Qatar in Tashkent.

IRAN – Lebanon 4-0 (2-0)
World Cup 2014 qualifier, Tehran, Azadi Stadium

IRAN: Ahmadi – Heydari, Montazeri, Hosseini, Beikzadeh (80′ Hajsafi) – Teymourian, Nekounam – Shojaei (69′ Mosalman), Jabbari (71′ Rezaei), Khalatbari – Ghoochannejhad

Goals:
1-0 Khalatbari (39′ / assist by Jabbari)
2-0 Nekounam (45′ / Heydari)
3-0 Ghoochannejhad (46′ / Jabbari)
4-0 Nekounam (87′ / Teymourian)

Iranian players booked:
None

Watch the goals from PFDC TV