Iran claim top honours, Qatar finish third

By Yash Mudgal/Doha

Earlier, hosts Qatar defeated Morocco 2-1 in their last league encounter and finished the tournament at the third place with one win, one draw and one loss. Turkey settled for the second spot.

Iran, who remained unbeaten in the four-nation tournament, rallied to beat Tukey 3-2. The German-born striker of Turkey Cenk Tosun put his side in the lead when he rose to head a second minute goal. However, the joy was short-lived as Iran striker Payam Sadeghian leveled the score in the fifth minute and later increased it in the 26th minute. Mohsen Mosalman in the 74th minute scored the third goal for the winners. Ridvan Simsek pulled one back for Turkey in the 84th minute.

In the earlier match, after a lackluster first-half show Qatar put up a spirited performance in the second-half and came from behind to beat Morocco.

Conceding an early seemed to have galvanised the hosts, who hit back with two goals after the break, courtesy of Saleh Badr al-Yazidi and Hilal Mohamed al-Sayed.

Morocco took the lead with Walid El Karti goal in the 34th minute, but Saleh Badr al-Yazidi scored a fine goal for Qatar when he put his left-footed free-kick into the net in the 58th minute for the equaliser. However, a last-minute (89th minute) strike from Hilal Mohd al-Sayed made sure of a victory for the hosts.

“I am happy with the overall performance of my boys. They played fighting soccer in the tournament against some of physically superior teams. I was disappointed with their first-half show today, but they came back fighting in the second-half and won the match. They were aggressive in the second-half and it paid for them,” said Qatar coach Marcel van Buuren.

“It was a good tournament for the young teams. It was a good learning experience for them and I hope it will put them in the right direction,” he said.

“I was not happy with my team’s performance. They were good in the first-half, but somehow they lost the track in the crucial second-half. It’s a young team and I hope they will learn from their mistakes soon,” Morocco coach Hassan Benabicha said after the match.

Iran captain Mohsen Mosalman won the best player award, while Iran’s Ali Reza Beiranvand won the best goalkeeper award. Iran’s Payam Sadeghian got the top scorer trophy and the best team award also went to Iran.

“I am a happy man today as we have won the trophy,” Iran coach Ali Reza Mansourian said. “It is a proud moment for me as all the individual awards were also won by my players,” added the former Iran player.