Karimi named man of the match

Tehran - Iran's agile striker Ali Karimi was named man of the match Wednesday as the two Asian Cup qualifiers tied scoreless in a warm match between Japan and Iran.

Despite Iran's veteran Ali Daei's luckwarm display, Iran cruised into the last four with picking up five points.

Iran's Croat coach Ivanko Brankovic told IRIB that he was "happy" with the result, taking the technical problems his men suffered into consideration.

Powerful Iran set to visit South Korea on Saturday.