Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Manama: Abolfazl Razzaghpour’s first-half free kick earned Islamic Republic of Iran a 1-0 win over Yemen on Thursday evening as Amir Peiravnai’s side booked their place in the knockout phase of the AFC U-19 Championship Bahrain 2016.
Iran secured their first win of the competition after draws with Qatar and Japan to join the Japanese in the quarter-finals with a second place finish in Group C, setting up a meeting with the winners of Group D in the next round.
Razzaghpour’s goal came in the 45th minute and was enough for a dominant Iranian team to take all three points despite a lack of clear cut chances throughout the 90 minutes for either side.
Iran spent most of the opening 35 minutes camped out in the Yemen half but, although they dominated possession, Amir Peiravani’s side was able to create little due to the organisation and discipline on display by the Yemeni defence.
Steadily, though, the Iranians moved closer to the Yemeni goal. Mehdi Mehdikhani fired off a long range attempt that curled well wide in the 39th minute while two minutes later he headed just wide from only six yards out.
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