AFC - Midfielder Hossein Kabei
netted a brace of goals as Iran's Olympic side edged the Singapore national
team 3-2 in an international friendly at the Jalan Besar Stadium on
Saturday.
The Iranians raced into a two-goal lead at the break, but the home side
staged a tremendous fightback to level the score before Kabei netted a late
winner to settle the match.
Iran had the better chances in the opening half and took the lead on the
half-hour mark when Moharram Navidkia found an unmarked Mehrzad Ardakani,
who drilled a low shot across Singapore goalkeeper Hassan Sunny into the
back of the net.
Five minutes later, Ali Badavi broke down the left and crossed to Kabei, who
scrambled the ball home from close range to make it 2-0.
Singapore coach Radojko Avaramovic made a number of changes at the break and
it paid off almost immediately as Indra Sahdan headed home a corner five
minutes into the second half.
The hosts then levelled the score at 2-2 in the 59th minute as Tan Kim Leng
tapped the ball into the net after a goalmouth scramble.
The match hung in the balance in the closing stages with both teams creating
chances but it was Iran that got the winner in the 78th minute as Kabei
reacted quickest after the ball had come back off the Singapore upright to
hammer the ball into the roof of the net.
Iran Olympic coach Mohammad Mayeli Kohan was using the match as a warm-up
for his team's upcoming Asian Olympic Qualifying Group A matches against
Korea Republic, China and Malaysia. He was generally pleased with the
performance although he lamented the lapses that allowed Singapore back into
the game.
"It was a good game for us considering it was our first match together since
we beat Uzbekistan in the Olympic qualifiers [in June 2003]," said Kohan.
"We got a bit complacent with a 2-0 lead at half time, but some of my
players are a bit inexperienced at international level and things like that
happen," he added.
The Iran Olympic team's next assignment is a friendly against Japan in Tokyo
on February 8, while Singapore next meet India in Kolkota on February 18 in
a World Cup 2006 qualifying match.
