Sardar Azmoun leads Iran to the quarterfinals.
The Iranian national football team defeated Japan 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asia Cup Qatar 2023 at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
The game was tight from the start. Japan played with their trademark ball possession and Iran attacked with physicality. Japan scored in a difficult situation. In the 27th minute, the ball was played into the center from the back and Ueda trapped it before crossing to Morita. Morita 텍사스홀덤 pushed the ball into the center of the box and took one defender off his feet before finishing with a right-footed shot.
But Iran went on the offensive after the goal. In the 38th minute, a ball was played in from the back and when the defense failed to deal with it perfectly, Godos unleashed a powerful right-footed shot that went wide of the goal. Iran continued to push forward.
It was Azmoun who cracked the Japanese defense. Azmoun missed a great scoring chance in the 42nd minute when he tried to shoot on a cross from the left flank. Nine minutes into the second half, Suzuki’s kick was blocked and Azmoun passed to Mohebi, who found space behind the defense. Mohebi rattled the net with a precise right-footed shot.
Azmun then pulled a goal back in the 18th minute of the second half when he found space behind the defense. However, an offside call kept the score at 1-1. Azmoun continued to pound the Japanese goal, even scoring a sharp header.
As Azmoun came alive at the end of the first half and began to crack the Irop defense, Iran’s attack regained its power and Japan was quickly outnumbered.
Iran eventually turned the game around. In the second half of stoppage time, the ball was played into Japan’s territory and Tomiyasu failed to clear the ball perfectly. As Kanani took the ball, he was tackled by Itakura and fell to the ground. The referee awarded a penalty kick. Jahanbakhsh stepped up to take the kick and rattled the net. Azmun’s ‘class’ was still there.