FIFA Friendly: Sweden 3-1 Iran – Match Report [VIDEO]

Persianfootball.com – STOCKHOLM, Team Melli’s second high-profile FIFA friendly match, held at the Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, ended in a 3-1 defeat.

As this match is likely to have been coach Carlos Queiroz final game in charge of the Iranian national team, there were high hopes for another victory on the road during Team Mellis’ European friendly tour which began in St. Polten, Austria, with a 2-0 victory against Chile.

Prior to the match-up against Swedens full squad, the Iranian captain, Javad Nekounam, reportedly spoke to reporters claiming that he would retire from the national selection after playing the Swedes. This retracted from previous comments he made stating he would not be planning on retiring anytime soon.

Team Melli supporters were relishing this friendly opportunity against a European side due to limited opportunities to play stronger opponents in friendly matches other than in international tournaments, and this was shown with the massive support at the Friends Arena. The majority of fans showing their support for Iran due to the large population of Iranian immigrants in Sweden and Europe. The crowd of roughly 34,000 fans were clearly those supporting Iran, as the chants and vocal support was hard to avoid.

A full strength Sweden, boasting a lineup with the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marcus Berg, Erkan Zengin, and the likes of Sebastian Larsson and Johan Elmander on the bench, all featured in today’s game. The Iranian setup was very familiar to the lineup that played against Chile with minor changes seeing Pejman Montazeri replacing Vouria Ghafouri at right back, and Morteza Pouraliganji partnering Jalal Hosseini in central defence.

Iran started the match brightly and showed a promising passing game with the intent on playing an offensive game. With the defence pushing a higher line, it was understood Iran was here to score. This wasn’t the case as the reshuffled Iranian defence were caught off-guard early on as Swedens passing game and crosses switching flanks brought about the opening goal in the 11th minute by none other than Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Ibrahimovic sent a pass to Erkan Zengin on the right who returned a chip back to the Swedish captain as he powerfully headed the ball at the far post towards the net. A.Haghighi had a hand to it but only to have the ball continue to hit the inside side-netting.

Sweden kept the pressure on consistently after the first goal. This eventually led to their second ten minutes later in the 21st minute. Marcus berg connected to a headed pass sent in from Ibrahimovic, rifling a powerful shot from the middle of the box that slammed into the net leaving A.Haghighi without much time to react.

Iran determined to reverse the deficit and get back into the game began to settle. They passed well and attempted the counter-attacking tactics previously employed during Queiroz’s tenure. This eventually led to V.Amiri having taking a chance for a run at the defence, he collected a pass and made a run into the Swedish box, passing two defenders only to be taken down by Andreas Granqvist resulting in the referee awarding a penalty. Team Melli captain and resident penalty kick taker J.Nekounam, calmly stepped up to the spot and converted in the 24th minute.

The start of the second half saw both teams reshuffle their respective squads as more substitutions took place, with both sides eventually using all six changes as allowed per FIFA regulations in a friendly encounter.

Iran attempted more attacks in order to get back into the game, however, these did not result in any more goals. R.Ghoochannejhad nearly found the equaliser for Iran when he had the slightest of touches on an A.Teymourian throw-in from the right. The first touch tap went through the Swedish keepers legs only to be denied by the goal-post. The remainder of the game saw Iran hold possession better than previous matches but not well enough as they conceded another goal in the dying moments of the match.

The 89th minute saw O.Toivonen superbly latch on to a cross from S.Larsson, as he beat two Iranian defenders for the ball scoring from a towering header to bring the Swedes to a comfortable 3-1 victory at home.

Regardless of the scoreline, the match proposed more for Team Melli than the final score determined as it did not represent the decent performance that Iran put it in.

The defeat brings to end Irans European friendly tour, and possibly the end of one of the longest tenures for a European coach at the helm of Team Melli. The future of Carlos Queiroz is still uncertain however, we will know more in the coming days of what is to come for the future of the Iranian national football team.

Irans Starting Line-up:

A.Haghighi – P.Montazeri – J.Hosseini – M.Pouraliganji – H.Beikzadeh – J.Nekounam – A.Teymourain – M.Shojaei – A.Dejagah – V.Amiri – R.Ghoochannejhad

Substitutions: M.Pouraliganji (A.Sadeghi) 46′, A.Dejagah (V.Ghafouri) 65′, J.Nekounam (O.Ebrahimi) 74′, V.Amiri (R.Rezaeian) 79′, M.Shojaei (K.Ansarifard) 87′, R.Ghoochannejhad (M.Hassanzadeh) 90+1′

Booked Players: Hosseini 56′, Beikzadeh 71′, Montazeri 86′

Goal Scorers: Ibrahimovic 11′, Berg 21′, Nekounam (PK) 24′, Toivonen 89′