Taremi was sent off in the 91st minute of the match, but the Syrian national team did not take advantage of the Iranian national team’s numerical deficiency (Reuters)
Doha -
Iranian Mehdi Taremi's eyes filled with tears when he was sitting in the stands, while his teammates in the national team were taking the penalty kicks that gave them victory over Syria and qualification to meet Japan in the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup, which is being held until the tenth of this month in Qatar.
The most optimistic Syrian fans who flocked to Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha were not expecting to see their country compete with Iran and extract a draw from them in the regular time of the match, forcing them to go not only to extra time but also to penalty kicks.
Although the first half of the match was under the complete control of the "Lions of Persia" performance and result, the Syrian team regained its breath in the second half thanks to a tactical substitution made by the Argentine Hector Cuper, coach of the "Nusour Qasioun" coach.
Cuper, who is known for his loyalty to the 4-4-2 plan and the defensive approach that he adhered to with all the national teams and teams that he coached, made a quick substitution in the 58th minute by bringing on Pablo Sabbagh, a professional in the Peruvian “Allianza Lima” team, in place of Mahmoud Al-Aswad.
This substitution came to fruition after 6 minutes when he scored a penalty kick, from which Omar Khribin, captain of the national team, scored the equalizer for his country.
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Regarding this substitution, Mohamed Al-Khouli, a Syrian football analyst, says, “Coper wanted to turn Sabbagh (1.88 centimeters) into a fulcrum to transfer lofted balls from the defenders and the midfield to the attackers, thus hitting the advanced Iranian defence, and he relied heavily on the offside trap.”
He added, "Sabbagh's speed and physical strength make him able to outperform the Iranian national team's defenders who were slow in dispersing and passing the balls among themselves. Cuper actually succeeded in this after Khribin's pass behind the Iranian defense reached Sabbagh, where he stormed the penalty area with his speed and forced goalkeeper Ali Reza Beiranvand to commit a penalty." "The mistake is on him."
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Mehdi Taremi leaves with a red card #Asia_Cup | #AsiaCup2023 | #Syria_Iran#AsianCup2023 pic.twitter.com/L18F8lmo6C
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Cuper was not satisfied with this change, as he brought on striker Alaa Al-Dali in place of Khribin, who was tired in the 87th minute. It was also a fruitful substitution, as he was able, in one of his starts, to force Taremi to commit a foul on him, which cost him a second yellow card and exit from the match in the 91st minute. .
The Iranian national team narrowly surpasses its Syrian counterpart and reaches the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup Qatar 2023™
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But the Syrian team did not take advantage of the Iranian team's numerical deficiency, and instead of launching successive attacks on the Iranian goal to settle the match with a second goal, it retreated backwards and it seemed as if its players were moving the match toward two additional halves.
Regarding this, Al-Khouli explains, “This matter is known about Cooper, and he does not have the courage to make decisive decisions during the match and does not know how to be the initiator of the attack. Instead of asking his players to intensify their pressure on Iranian players who were psychologically affected and physically exhausted after the expulsion of their first star, he started... “It is as if the Syrian national team is playing with 10 players and wants to pass the remaining time of the second half.”
He concludes, “Goalkeeper Ahmed Madaniyeh, the best player in the Syrian national team, gave a legendary performance with his extraordinary saves against attacks, shots, and shots from Tarmi, Serdar Azmoun (Roma player), and Ali Reza Jahanbakhsh (Feyenoord, the Netherlands). But the national team raised our head and we have distinguished players who can work with them and build a national team that competes continentally and qualifies.” For the 2026 World Cup.
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Ahmed Madaniyah, Syrian national team goalkeeper: We played a great match against Iran, and thank God in any case #Come on_Asia | #AsiaCup2023 #Qatar2023 | #AsianCup2023
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The match numbers confirm what Al-Kholi said. The Iranian team shot 20 times against the Syrian team’s goal, including 12 between the three goals, all of which were saved by a civilian, and even the own goal was scored from a penalty kick.
On the other hand, it was strange that the Iranian national team was suddenly and greatly affected by Taremi’s expulsion, and although he is the team’s star, the Iranian national team players are active in European leagues and are accustomed to these turns in the matches, but they collapsed physically and began wasting time to reach the extra two halves.
Iranian football expert Karim Ebrahimi believes that “the expulsion shocked the Iranian team, especially since the player is the star of the team and the inspiration for the remaining players, and that is why he had a great impact on the team, and the qualifying matches are played out in details and twists, and the red card is the most important of them.”
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He considered that "coach Amir Qalai Nooyi's dismissal of Sardar Azmoun was a mistake, because after Taremi's expulsion, he should have kept the other star on the team who is capable of deciding the match through individual skill or a shot."
But - on the other hand - he praised the Iranian coach, who "played realistically, returned to defense, and relied on counterattacks to maintain the tie. He respected the Syrian team, which was able to settle the result, but I do not know why its players retreated backwards."
We leave the field, and the players console Taremi and dedicate the victory to him, especially Iranian goalkeeper Ali Reza Beiranavand, who saved a penalty kick taken by Fahd Al-Yousef, which was enough to give Iran a hard-fought victory over a Syrian team whose players fought until the last breath in search of another historic achievement, after they qualified for the first time in their history. For the eighth final of the continental championship.
Source: Al Jazeera