Qatar holds Iran to 1-1 draw in WCup qualifier

Published Sep. 6, 2011 9:20 p.m. ET

foxsports

Qatar rallied from a goal down to earn a 1-1 draw with Iran on Tuesday in the third round of Asian qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup.

Both goals were scored in the second half, with Hadi Aghili putting Iran deservedly in front with a header in the 46th minute before Qatar equalized through Mohammed El Sayed in the 56th.

Iran enjoyed most of the possession and the scoring opportunities, but paid the price for its missed chances. It remains top of Group E, level on four points with Bahrain after two games. Third-place Qatar, the 2022 World Cup host, has two points.

After a cagey start, the game came to life in the 20th minute with Qatar earning its first chance after a foul on striker Sebastian Soria. However, Fabio Cesar wasted his free kick, sending the ball straight into the wall.

Then it was Iran's turn to try from a set piece after Mohammed Reza was brought down by Hamid Ismail. But Karim Ansari failed to cause any trouble with his shot from around 20 yards (meters).

Iran's players grew in confidence and, despite losing captain Javad Nekonam to injury in the 37th minute, gradually imposed themselves on the game. They pressed hard in the closing minutes of the first half, but Qatar goalkeeper Qasim Burhan denied a chance that fell to Ansari.

Iran returned with real determination after the break and broke the deadlock after only a minute. Having been denied by Burhan moments earlier, Teymourian returned to take a corner and Aghili nodded home.

Iran then had a clear opportunity to double its lead in the 51st minute, but Hamid Ismail produced a brilliant piece of defending to deny Gholam Rezaei with goalkeeper Burhan beaten.

However, the hosts pushed hard for an equalizer and were rewarded when El Sayed provided the finish from a pass from Soria inside the area.

Qatar's Brazilian coach Sebastiao Lazzaroni was satisfied with the result.

''I'm happy with the performance of my team today. We faced a team which had players in the Spanish and German Leagues, so I feel we did well against them,'' Lazzaroni said.

''Defenders made a few mistakes in the match, but Qasim Burhan was brilliant in goal and saved the day for us. But we will return stronger in the next match.''

Iran's Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz rued the wasted opportunities.

''We assessed the game for the first 10 minutes,'' Queiroz said. ''Then we started pushing hard and we scored early in the second half. We missed two to three good chances and also let Qatar off the hook.''

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Lineups:

Qatar: Qasem Burhan, Hamid Ismaeil, Marcone Amaral, Lawrence Quaye, Wesam Rizik, Hussein Ali (Fahad Al-Shammari 63', Mohammed Razarek 89'), Fabio Cesar (Khalfan Ibrahim 65'), Ibrahim Majed, Mohamed El Sayed, Bilal Mohammed, Sebastian Soria.

Iran: Mahdi Rahmati, Khosro Heydari, Jalal Hosseini, Hadi Aghili, Javad Nekonam (37' Mazyar Zare), Ali Karimi (Farhad Majidi 70'), Mohammad Reza Khalatbari, Karim Ansari Fard, Gholamreza Rezaei, Anderanik Teymourian, Pooladi Mehr