Iran thrash Costa Rica 3-0

Iran thrash Costa Rica 3-0

Margao: Asian powerhouse Iran put up a formidable performance as they breezed past Costa Rica 3-0 to top Group C and progress in the FIFA U-17 World Cup at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Fatorda on Friday.

Mohammad Ghobeishavi (25th minute) and Taha Shariati (29th minute) scored for Iran in the first half while substitute Mohammad Sardari sealed three points in the second session.

Costa Rica gave a good account of themselves although the Iranian side dominated from start to finish and should have scored in the first ten minutes itself. At the very start of the proceedings Sobhan Khaghani’s shot off a ball fed to him by Allahyar Sayyad sailed above the Costa Rican crossbar. 

In the 24th minute Iran won a penalty as Younes Delfi was brought down by Amferny Arias and the resultant penalty was taken by Captain, Mohammad who successfully converted the penalty for his side. Five minutes later Taha scored off a penalty awarded to the Iranian side after Younes was brought down by Costa Rica’s Karin Arce.

Iran enjoyed the lion’s share of ball possession during the first half an hour. The last ten minutes saw both teams maintaining a high tempo which meant they had enough chances to seize the initiative. In the dying minutes of the first half a shot by Andres Gomez sailed inches wide of the Iranian crossbar. 

Crossing over the match started off at a fiery pace with either sides trying hard to make an impact but the ball was mostly confined to the midfield.  

A little before the one hour mark a grounder by Ghobeishavi was blocked by Ricardo Montenegro, the goalkeeper of Costa Rica which rebounded and fell at the feet of Allahyar whose shot ballooned away from the six yard box.  In the 89th minute Sardari scored the third goal for the Iranian side.

Abbas Chamanian, the coach of Iran feels that their defence is strong and had a hand behind them securing 9 points in the group stage. “We are not the top contenders in the tournament as there are many teams and we should respect them. Our defence has been good throughout due to which we have conceded only one goal as yet. In the last three matches we have scored a total of ten goals,” he said.

Whereas Breansse Camacho, the coach of Costa Rica mentioned that his side was nervous in the first half which caused them the most of the damage in the team. “Iran played alot of counter football and we definitely played against a strong team.  In the first half itself we conceded two penalities because we were nervous and this was our disadvantage. We shouldn’t have lost the match against Germany, against Guinea we played well but then again we didn’t manage to win against Iran. The team we lost against today will definitely go a long way in this tournament,” he said.

Results: Group C: Guinea 1 (Ibrahima Soumah 26th) lost to Germany 3 (Jann-Fiete Arp 8th, Nicolas Kuehn 62nd, Sahverdi Cetin 92nd (P); Costa Rica 0 lost to Iran 3 (Mohammad Ghobeishavi 25th (P), Taha Shariati 29th (P), Mohammad Sardari 89th)

Enjoyed reading The Bridge Chronicle?
Your support motivates us to do better. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay updated with the latest stories.
You can also read on the go with our Android and iOS mobile app.

Related Stories

No stories found.
logo
The Bridge Chronicle
www.thebridgechronicle.com