Golmohammadi apologizes for crucial miss

ASIANCUP2004 – Iran defender Yahya Golmohammadi apologized on Wednesday for the penalty shootout miss against China that cost his side a place in the Asian Cup 2004 final.

With the hosts leading 4-3 in the shootout after Tuesday’s semi-final at the Beijing Workers’ Stadium had finished in a 1-1 draw, Golmohammadi, scorer of Iran’s winning spot kick against Korea Republic in the 2002 Asian Game semi-finals, attempted a cheeky chip with his team’s final attempt.

The move backfired though as the Pirouzi defender fluffed his effort, allowing goalkeeper Liu Yunfei to claw the ball away to send China through to the final.

Speaking to the Iran media during a lunch reception for the team at the Iranian embassy on the day after the match, a devastated Golmohammadi apologized for the spot kick which coach Branko Ivankovic has described as ‘unprofessional’.

“My penalty at the 2002 Asian Games semi-finals won us the match, but my miss here has cost us a place in the final,” said the 33-year-old in a direct apology to Iranian football fans.

The audacious nature of the attempt was uncharacteristic of Golmohammadi, who usually tends to go for power and placement with his penalty kicks.

The costly miss extinguished Iran’s hopes of a first Asian Cup title since 1976 and Ivankovic was critical of the Pirouzi player’s decision.

“It was not professional of him (Golmohammadi) to do that as he did not appear serious about what he had to do,” said Ivankovic to FootballAsia.com.

“You can maybe try that if the score is tied 4-4 and you are looking to win the shootout. But to do that with a place in the final on the line does not show respect for the team.”

The Croatian admitted that he had had a sleepless night reflecting on the heartbreaking loss to the Chinese.

“I just couldn’t sleep. I was sad and disappointed and it was such a terrible situation to be in as we were so close to the final.

“However, penalties are always a lottery and you never know what to expect. We had five good players to take our kicks and if you gave them 100 efforts, they would probably score 89 times.

“Young [Eman] Mobali hardly ever misses a penalty and if his shot had been one or two centimetres lower, it would have been in.”