Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Muscat: An early contender for AFC U-22 Championship goal of the tournament from Shoya Nakajima was the pick of the bunch in a high-scoring encounter between Japan and Iran that ended in a 3-3 tie in their Group C fixture at Royal Police Stadium on Sunday.
Both sides were off the mark before the game had even reached the 10 minutes mark with Benham Barzay’s opener for Iran quickly nullified by a reply from Riki Harakawa.
Takuma Asano then put Japan ahead five minutes before the interval as the action continued at a furious pace.
The break did nothing to calm an appetite for goals with Iran striker Kaveh Rezaei bagging a brace within 10 minutes of the restart to restore Iran’s lead before Nakajima’s long range strike capped off the scoring in a thrilling contest.
“It was a tough but open game, we both scored a lot of goals and conceded a lot,” said Japan coach Makoto Teguramori, whose side will face Kuwait in his side’s next fixture on Tuesday.
“However, considering the lack of preparation, the ability of my side to score and give a tough game, was a positive factor.
“In terms of goals conceded we will need to make adjustments. My players had a good feeling and as we play more we’ll improve. The Iran coach said this was his B team, I don’t think it was a B team at all!”
Iran flew out of the blocks in the opening minutes, swarming over a tentative Japan right from the kick-off and it took forward Rezaei just four minutes to impose himself on the game.
He first played in Shahab Karami who blazed over, before playing a part in the move that led to Barzay’s opener, with the forward finding himself with space to turn and shoot in the penalty area with Japan’s defence all at sea in the seventh minute.
The goal shocked the young Blue Samurai into action as Iran’s lead lasted just two minutes as Harakawa stepped inside two challenges on the edge of the penalty area before curling the ball into the corner past an unsighted Ali Reza Beiranvand who was left motionless on his line by the ball’s vicious swerve.
From then on the match opened up into a pattern of pulsating back and forth attacks from both sides.
Nakajima shot wide when played through just after the 20 minute mark, while Iran reposted almost immediately with a deft combination between Afshin Esmaeilzadeh and Seyed Miri that resulted in the former slamming a shot against Masatoshi Kushibiki’s crossbar from 16 yards out.
With both sides attacking at will, space began to open up at the back and as Iran pushed forward in numbers, the ball broke to Asano who found himself one-on-one with Beiranvand and he clipped adroitly over the goalkeeper to give Japan the lead.
Musashi Suzuki had a good chance to add a third goal when put through on goal with under 10 minutes of the half remaining but the midfielder was denied by the Iranian custodian who dived bravely at his feet to avert the danger.
The second half continued much the same as the first period with both teams attacking with gusto and it took just two minutes after the restart before Iran restored parity as a coming together in the box between Japan captain Takaharu Nishino and Rezaei resulted in a penalty which the latter coolly converted high to the goalkeeper’s left.
And the irrepressible Rezaei then put his side in front after 55 minutes with a powerful shot from just inside the penalty area that curled into the top corner.
Although the Iranian number nine’s strike was a fine effort, it only took 10 minutes for the diminutive Nakajima to go one better with a spectacular shot from distance that arrowed into the top corner.
With the furious tempo the match had enjoyed for over an hour, it was understandable that the pace began to drop as a raft of substitutions took place, although there was still time for one final chance as a free-kick from substitute Shinya Yajima flew just inches wide of Beiranvand’s right-hand post.
“I think it was an acceptable start for our team, especially against a competitive and well-organised team like Japan, considering this was the first time this lineup played together,” said Iran coach Afazeli Human, who will take on Australia on Tuesday.
“For us, I think, the good starts we made to both halves are something we can build on. We didn’t come to draw, we wanted to win and so did Japan, that’s why it was so open.”