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It’s all over for Qatar as far as next year’s World Cup in Brazil is concerned. Requiring nothing less than a victory against Iran, they crashed to a heart breaking 1-0 defeat in front of thousands of supporters at the Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Stadium last evening. |
Qatar have never made it to the World Cup and lacklustre performances in the final phase of qualifying – they had just seven points from six previous matches in group A – meant they were faced with a do-or-die situation against Iran.
But as luck would have it, it was Iran who were celebrating after forward Reza Nournia struck in the 66th minute to put his side on course for their fourth appearance in football’s quadrennial showpiece.
Nournia, who was born in Iran but moved to the Netherlands as a child, found himself in perfect position to score off a move initiated by the Qatar-based Andranik Teymourian, slotting the ball easily past goalkeeper Qassem Burhan for the vital goal.
It was Iran’s first win over Qatar in four qualifying matches for the Brazil tournament. Their three previous matches, including two in the third and penultimate phase of qualifying, had ended in draws.
Nournia’s strike took Iran to 10 points in group A, and with games against Lebanon and South Korea remaining, the Asian giants are now the favourites to clinch one of the two automatic World Cup berths from the group.
“Obviously, it is heart-breaking to lose a crucial match in front of our fans,” Qatar coach Fahd Thani said. “We had to win this match and we tried our best but luck was not on our side.”
Iran also needed a victory after they managed to win just two of their previous five group A games, but yesterday everything fell in place for them after a troubled build-up to the game.
Coach Carlos Quieroz had to deal with injuries to five key players, not to speak of the tremendous pressure from Iran’s soccer-mad population.
They didn’t have it easy though as Qatar dominated proceedings for the better part of the first half, often catching the Iranian defence napping with speedy moves.
Former Asian Player of the Year Khalfan Ibrahim ran the Iranian defence close on a couple of occasions, but Qatar’s first real chance came in the 30th minute when Hassan Haydos found himself clear just inside the penalty area. However, much to Qatar’s dismay his cracking shot slammed the crosspiece.
Qatar goalkeeper Burhan then brought off two splendid saves in quick succession — blocking a dipping free-kick from 25 yards by Masoud Shojaei and then producing a reflex save to stop a Nournia header from close.
Iran, however, picked up their game a notch in the second session. Playing with more purpose and speed they kept probing the Qatari defence and sure enough it cracked under pressure when a move initiated by Teymourian saw the ball coming Nournia’s way and the former Dutch under-19 international made no mistake from close range.
Nournia, who plays as a professional for Belgium’s Standard Liege, and is a competent violinist, was one of the few players who acquitted themselves well last night in a match that never hit the heights.
“It was a tough game but we are happy to win the three points in Doha,” Quieroz said. “We didn’t play as well as we wanted to in the previous matches but obviously that’s now in the past.”