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GOAL - In their opening match of the Third
West Asian Games Iran handed Kuwait a convincing defeat.
Iran fielding a team of mostly U-23s took control of the game early on and
created a number of chances, but Khaled Al Rashidi, Kuwait’s goalkeeper did
well to save efforts from Iran’s Masoud Shojaei and Andranik Teymourian.
Al Rashidi had his best save of the day 20 minutes into the game, when he
brilliantly robbed Reza Enayati off a chance to give Iran the lead.
Kuwait then created chances of their own when Ali Al Mashmum’s free kick
forced a good reaction from Iran’s goalkeeper Hassan Roudbarian.
With only seconds remaining of the half, Kuwait was awarded a free kick at
the edge of Iran’s box. Abdulaziz Al Enezi came agonizingly close but his
shot only rattled the woodwork.
Starting in the second half, Iran looked better organized and more
determined. They were rewarded 13 minutes later when Enayati’s cross found
Arash Borhani who finished from closed range.
Only a minute later an own goal by Kuwaiti defender Faisal Dashti doubled
Iran’s lead.
Sixty eight minutes into the game, Masoud Shojaei brilliantly setup Borhani
for his second and Iran’s third goal.
With a comfortable 3:0 lead, Iran’s Brazilian coach Rene Simoes replaced
Enayati and Borhani with Saeid Daghighi and Mehrdad Oladi who promptly
rewarded his coach by scoring Iran’s fourth goal merely a minute after
coming on.
Oladi came very close to getting his second a few minutes later when he
failed to beat Al Rashidi after a brilliant solo run through the entire
Kuwait defense.
Kuwait are now eliminated from the tournament with two losses. Iran will
face Qatar on Monday.
Iran:
Hassan Roudbarian (GK), Jalal Akbari (78, Mazyar Zare), Mohsen Arzani, Seyed
Jalal Hosseini, Sepehr Heydari, Javad Nekounam, Masoud Shojaei, Andranik
Teymourian, Arash Borhani (71, Mehrdad Oladi), Reza Enayati (69, Saeid
Daghighi), Behshad Ahrandjani
Kuwait:
Khaled ALrashidi (GK), Faisal Dashti, Husain Al Mousavi, Abdulaziz Al Enezi,
Abdullah Al Haddad (79, Dhary Abdullah), Bader Al Thafeeri, Amer Al Fadhel,
Abdulrazaq Al Buti (63, Abdulrahman Al Awadhi), Jarrah Al Zuhair, Mohammad
Sanad, Ali Al Mashmum (72, Bader Abdullah)
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