Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Goa: Coach Abbas Chamanian hailed Islamic Republic of Iran’s fighting spirit after his side ousted AFC U-16 Championship holders DPR Korea 6-5 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in Thursday’s semi-final to set up a date with Iraq in Sunday’s final.
Captain Mohammad Sharifi’s goal put Iran one up at the interval at Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, but the defending champions came back strongly after the restart and levelled through Kye Tam's spot kick to take the tie to penalties.
A tense shootout saw goalkeeper Ali Gholam Zadeh net Iran’s seventh penalty in sudden death before the custodian saved from Kim Kyong-sok to set up a clash with neighbours Iraq, after the West Asians saw off Japan 4-2 in Thursday’s earlier semi-final.
“DPR Korea are a very strong team and our players had to fight hard to win this match,” said Chamanian.
“We played very well in the first half but they began to control the midfield in the second half and we lost our confidence.
“Then DPR Korea scored the equaliser so we had to try and fight back again and at the end we had two great chances that the players didn’t take.”