Qatar conceded an early goal and played poorly but the host Qatar still beat Iran 3-2 in the semi-finals, thereby keeping alive the hope of defending the Asian Cup championship.
*Goals: Gaber 17', Afif 43', Almoez Ali 82' - Azmoun 4', Jahanbakhsh 51'.
Although playing at home and being the defending champions, Qatar were underestimated. They were defeated 0-4 by Iran last October. The path to the semi-finals was also quite easy for Tintin Marquez's team because they always faced weaker teams. Only when they won the penalty shootout against Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals did Qatar show their strength a little. Meanwhile, Iran impressed when they defeated championship candidate Japan 2-1 in the quarter-finals despite not having their main striker Mehdi Taremi.
Azmoun jumped up and hooked the ball to open the score for Iran. Photo: Al Jazeera
The two teams started the game openly but the turning point came in the fourth minute. After Alireza Jahanbakhsh's long throw-in, the Qatari defense failed to completely block Saeid Ezatolahi's header. Taking advantage of that, Sardar Azmoun jumped up and hooked the ball. Goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham rushed out and Lucas Mendes could not cover his teammate because the ball was too high.
Despite the home team conceding an early goal, the Qatari fans in the stands were quite optimistic. They were still smiling and continued to cheer for their players. This gave Qatar more strength to respond. They pressed high, forcing Iran to play at a fast pace. However, the home team almost paid the price for this style of play when Jahanbakhsh escaped and crossed to Taremi. Luckily for Qatar, the Iranian striker did not have enough strength to reach the ball.
In the 17th minute, luck continued to smile on Qatar, helping them tie the score 1-1. Akram Afif beat two Iranian defenders to receive a long pass into the penalty area. He dribbled the ball out to the sideline and then passed it back to the second line for Jassem Gaber to finish. The kick hit an Iranian player and changed direction, creating a European trajectory to the top corner, making it impossible for goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand to reach. After Qatar scored, Iran protested, claiming that the referee had overlooked the home defender's previous foul on Taremi, but to no avail.
Afif was the most dangerous striker on the Qatar side. Before that, he warned the Iranian defense with a powerful curling shot, but it hit Beiranvand. In the 32nd minute, taking advantage of a careless pass back from the Iranian midfielder, the Qatar player wearing the number 11 shirt had another chance but once again could not beat Beiranvand in the face-off and also failed with a toe-kick.
At the end of the first half, Afif's star quality finally showed. He dribbled through four Iranian players before firing a close-range shot into the far corner. The shot was so powerful that Beiranvand was helpless even though he touched the ball with his hand. Iran had a chance to equalise shortly after. But with the goal open, Hossein Kanani fired straight at Mendes. Iran believed the ball had hit the Qatari centre-back's hand in the incident, but Mendes kept his hand close to his body and was not penalised.
Qatar players celebrate after Gaber's equalizer (No. 24). Photo: Al Jazeera
Compared to the first half, the match after the break was no less exciting. VAR intervened, awarding Iran a penalty after Ahmed Fathy handled the ball. From the free kick, Jahanbakhsh shot down the middle, fooling Barsham. Qatar immediately had a chance to regain the lead, but Yusuf Abdurisag's shot from inside the box was denied by Beiranvand. In the ensuing corner kick, it was Shojae Khalilzadeh's turn to save the ball on the goal line to save Iran.
The following minutes witnessed Iran's dominance. The visitors controlled the game and continuously launched high crosses from both wings. However, the Qatar defense fought hard to protect the goal. Coach Marquez even replaced two new central defenders early to ensure their physical strength to fight back. The Iranian attack also played poorly, especially Taremi - the player who had a chance to volley close to the goal in the 75th minute but missed.
Despite being outplayed, Qatar took the lead in the 82nd minute. Afif's cross was a bit of a fluke, and the Iranian defender cleared it to Abdel Aziz Hatem. His long-range shot turned into a beautiful pass, putting Almoez Ali in a good position to score. From the TV camera angle, Almoez appeared to be offside. But the semi-automatic offside technology showed that the Qatari striker was still standing above an opposing defender.
Almoez Ali celebrates after scoring the third goal for Qatar. Photo: Al Jazeera
Qatar will play Jordan in the final on February 10 at Lusail Stadium, and will be looking to become the first team to successfully defend the Asian Cup title since Japan in 2004.
Quang Huy
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