Iran advances to quarters

The Hindu – MARGAO, As expected, Iran and Mali booked their berths in the quarterfinals of the Under-17 World Cup, but took contrasting routes.

Iran was pushed to the limit by Mexico, while Mali outsmarted Iraq in all departments.

Iran coach Abbas Chamanian set out a 4-4-1-1, asking his boys to keep the space in between the lines to a minimum.

Mexico coach Mario Arteaga stuck to his midfield diamond with Diego Lainez on the tip of it.

Arteaga predicted rightly at the press conference on Monday that Iran will play a lot of long balls, but strangely he did not work out a solution to thwart the danger.

Mexico was pestered into errors in the opening minutes with Iran pressing harder and its directness led to frantic defending in Mexico’s penalty area.

Iran shot ahead as early as the seventh minute when Adrian Vazquez fouled Mohammad Ghaderi in the box, resulting in a penalty. Mohammed Sharifi converted, sending Cesar Lopez the wrong way.

Aerial attack

The aerial attack continued and the second goal happened in the blink of an eye. Striker Allahyar Sayyad took the chance expertly after receiving a precise long ball from ’keeper Ali Zadeh. The No. 9 adjusted his body shape to improve his angle and placed his shot above the onrushing Lopez in the 11th minute.

Iran’s creative spark Younes Delfi was on a mission right through the first half and tormented left-back Raul Sandoval no end. The Mexican wouldn’t have experienced the kind of chasing he had to do trying to keep pace with the Iranian’s wizardry.

Iran could have enhanced the lead, but went into a defensive shell. Capitalising on it, Mexico got quickly into rhythm, working out neat one-twos in dangerous areas.

Striker Jairo Torres tested the ’keeper for the first time in the 28th minute, but Zadeh was equal to the task.

Iran, which did not heed to the repeated warnings, was punished in the 37th minute. Roberto de la Rosa showed neat footwork to carve out space in the box and struck well.

The second half was equally contested with both creating and missing chances.

Speed and accuracy

In the second match of the day, Mali defended with a high line, pressed for the ball and moved it with a speed and accuracy that was beyond its opponent.

Mali was also smart enough not to throw too many players into attack and play into its opponent’s hands.

The gulf in talent became evident when Salam Jiddou rolled a cross towards the goal with two players waiting to stab it in. Hadji Drame was lucky, making no mistake.

The second goal came eight minutes later when Lassana N’Diaye headed in a cross from Diemoussa Traore.

The Iraqis were lucky to reach the interval without any incident. Iraq began the second half brightly with some eye-catching moves, but couldn’t penetrate the Mali defence.

Mali absorbed the pressure and increased the lead when Konate found the net from a difficult angle.

There was almost a twist in the tale when Ali Kareem scored in the 85th minute but Seme Camara and N’Diaye put the game to bed.

The results: Iran 2 (Sharifi 7-pen, Sayyad 11) bt Mexico 1 (de la Rosa 37); Mali 5 (Drame 25, N’Diaye 33 & 90+4, Konate 73, Seme Camara 87) bt Iraq (Ali Kareem 85).