Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Hamedan: Iraq will meet DPR Korea in the final of the AFC U-14 Championship after a brace from captain Mohammed Ridha sealed a thrilling 3-2 win over hosts Iran in Monday’s semi-final.
The come-from-behind win was Iraq’s third in the championship as Ridha’s two stunners and a strike from the tournament’s leading scorer Mohanad Ali Kadhim, who took his tally to four goals in four matches, sealed victory.
It was, however, Iran who started the brighter and captain Zabihollah Kohkan duly gave his side the advantage after nine minutes.
Midfielder Mohsen Godarzi crossed for Kohkan who converted a bullet header from point-blank range to secure an early lead.
The lead lasted only three minutes, Kadhim netting his fourth of the Championship with a simple tap-in. A fierce shot from Vahid Namdari deflected towards the unmarked Kadhim and he guided the ball home the ball for a precious equaliser.
Ridha then scored twice in the second half and both goals were identical. The dead-ball specialist struck from 20 yards in the 33rd and 40th minutes after Iran defenders had, on both occasions, fouled Kadhim.
“He has a God-gifted talent from that area,” Iraq coach Sadd Hashim said of Ridha after the match.
“In training here, he has already scored 20-30 times from there so we knew that a free-kick around the penalty area could be a good opportunity for us to score.
“We knew that we would have to convert our opportunities and despite going down by a goal we kept our head cool and managed to win this important match.
“We are now a few inches closer but we still need to work a lot to achieve our objectives,” added the Iraq coach.
Iran reduced the deficit in stoppage time through defender Taha Shariati who was thrown forward in a bid to rescue the game.
“We tried our best but mistakes at the back cost us the match,” coach Heidar Sharifi said.
“There were two main objectives for Iran team; one was to gain experience of playing in the international competition and help grow these young kids as footballers, and the other one was to win the championship.
“We got the first one but not the second. It does not matter, the main thing is to play good football and enjoy the football you play,"Sharifi added.
Meanwhile, DPR Korea defeated neighbours Korea Republic 3-1 in a penalty shootout to set up Wednesday’s final showdown against Iraq.