Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Salvador: Iran's participation in the FIFA World Cup came to an anti-climactic end on Wednesday as Carlos Queiroz's side slipped to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Bosnia-Herzegovina that left Team Melli bottom of Group F with just a solitary point.
Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko and AS Roma's Miralem Pjanic scored inside the first hour of the game to effectively see off the Iranians, who needed to pick up their first win at a World Cup since 1998 to have any hope of advancing to the knockout phase.
Reza Ghoochannejad struck eight minutes from time to ensure Iran did not leave Brazil as the only team in the tournament not to score, but within seconds the Bosnians restored their two-goal advantage when Avdija Vrsajevic's shot went in off the post.
Queiroz stuck with the line-up that so nearly picked up a point against Argentina and he was again rewarded with a disciplined defensive performance in the opening 45 minutes that required a moment of excellence to unlock the Iranian backline.
That came midway through the half when, with the Iran team on the attack, the defence was exposed as Masoud Shojaei lost possession and the Bosnians hit on the counterattack. Vrsalevic's decoy run gave Dzeko the time and space to fire off a shot from long range that found the back of the net via Alireza Haghighi's left post.
Almost immediately, Iran threatened at the other end, Shojaei hitting the crossbar from just inside the area before the ball fell to Ghochannejad, but his miss-hit dropped harmlessly to Asmir Begovic.
Bosnia had threatened in the opening exchanges, with Dzeko forcing Haghighi into action after just four minutes while moments later the towering centre forward again threatened in the air.
Needing to score twice to have any chance of advancing, Queiroz introduced Khosro Heydari for Shojaei at the start of the second half as Iran tried to open up and become more creative.
Just before the hour mark, though, Iran's dreams of a first win since defeating the United States in France in 1998 all but vanished when the Bosnians made the most of a mistake in midfield that ultimately saw Pjanic slot the ball past Haghighi.
With just eight minutes remaining, though, Iran finally claimed their first goal of the Brazil 2014 when Ghoochennejad side-footed home from close range but the joy of the Iranian fans at the Arena Fonte Nova was short-lived as Vrsajevic raced down the right before firing across the goalkeeper to score via the inside of the far post.
Photo: AFP