Group B of the World Cup in Qatar began the second round of the group stage. Wales lost to Iran, conceding two goals in the last seconds of the match. The Dragons goalkeeper received a red card.
The second game day of the group stage of the World Cup in Qatar began with a meeting between the teams of Wales and Iran. The Europeans approached the meeting in high spirits after a 1-1 draw with the USA. The Iranians lost a lot to England 2:6, so in today’s meeting they had to show their best side.
Wales national team (1-3-4-3)Cast: Hennessy-Davis, Rawdon, Mepham-Williams, Ramsey, Ampadu, Roberts-Wilson, Bale, Moore. Coach: Rob Page.
Iran squad (1-4-4-2): Hosseini-Razayan, Puraliganji, Hosseini, Mohammadi-Gholizadeh, Nurollahi, Ezatolahi, Haisafi-Azmun, Taremi. Coach: Carlos Queiroz.
The referee was the Guatemalan Mario Escobar.
World Cup 2022. First half match Wales-Iran.
Wales started the game. Already in the second minute, the “dragons” tried to threaten the Iranian goalkeeper. Nico Williams shoots from outside the box, but the ball goes over the crossbar. Asian players tried to attack with long passes, but each of them ended with Wayne Hennessy’s save. Then they moved on to attack on the flanks, thanks to which they were able to deliver the first shot on goal.
At the 12th minute, the roles changed, and the Welsh went on the offensive. Kieffer Moore received the ball from the right side of the field and shot straight at Hossein Hosseini from a few meters away. The Welsh striker was injured in the struggle for the ball and was forced to leave the field for a while, but soon returned. Connor Roberts made a catastrophic transmission error. The ball was intercepted by the Iranian attackers, and after an exchange of passes, Ali Golizade sent the ball into the net. Unfortunately, at the moment of impact, he was offside, and the goal was not counted.
Wales started the attack from the right. An invisible Gareth Bale was fouled behind the endline and the Dragons started with a free kick but failed to create a threat. The game immediately moved to the other side of the field. Iran began to use the right side of the field more often, causing the Welsh defenders to go astray. Ethan Ampadu fouled an opponent 40 meters from the goal, and Iran, after a free kick with a header, created another threat.
Saradar Azmund had to leave the field after colliding with Nico Williams. The injury was not serious enough to completely exclude him from the game. The Welsh moved into a positional attack, winning a free kick in midfield. Aaron Ramsey’s cross was too weak to reach his teammates. The next minutes were dictated by Rob Page’s team. The meeting somewhat slowed down the initial pace. In the 42nd minute we had the first corner for Wales, which didn’t pose a threat.
The referee added four minutes to the first half. The Iranians managed to send the ball into the Welsh penalty box twice, once from a free kick, but nothing came of it. The referee sent the players to the locker room.
World Cup 2022. The second half of the match Wales - Iran
Both teams went into the second half unchanged. The Iranians attacked first, although the cross from the left was too strong for Saradar Azmoun. The match kept the intensity from the end of the first half. At the 51st minute of the game, the Iranian sniper received the ball, thanks to which he went one on one with the goalkeeper and hit the post. A few seconds later, Ali Golizade received the ball and also hit the post from outside the penalty area.
The Welshman did not want to remain in debt and quickly went on a counterattack. Kiefer Moore headed the ball from the right flank, but the shot went wide. The match has finally begun. Wards Carlos Queiroz regularly attacked the gates of Wayne Hennessy, but their shots were blocked. Rob Page made a double substitution. Brennan Johnson replaced Connor Robberts and Daniel James replaced Harry Wilson. The Dragon Selector decided to change formation. From the 57th minute, the Welsh played according to the 1-4-4-2 system.
After the first corner for Iran, several players fell on the field, but the referee did not see any violation anywhere. Sardar Azmoun left the field and was replaced by Karim Ansarifard. In the 70th minute, after a corner, the Iranians again unsuccessfully threatened Wayne Hennessy’s goal. The team from Asia caught the wind in their sails and regularly besieged the opponent’s penalty area.
The Iranian national team coach made additional changes to the roster. Ahmad Nurollahi, Ehsan Hajsafi and Ali Golizade went to the bench, while Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Mehdi Torabi and Rozbeh Cheshmi went the other way. Joe Allen replaced Ethan Ampadu in Wales. After several unsuccessful actions, Carlos Queiroz released another player onto the field,
In the 83rd minute, the Welsh woke up a bit and after a neat action, Ben Davies delivered a strong shot on goal, which Hossein Hosseini took out for a corner. Iran responded immediately. Mehdi Taremi collided with Wayne Hennessy, who walked several tens of meters in front of the goal to prevent the action by hitting the opponent hard. Initially, the referee showed the goalkeeper a yellow card, but he ran to the VAR screen to check the situation. He eventually reversed his decision and sent the Welsh off the field.
Welsh backup goalkeeper Danny Ward was scheduled to replace Aaron Ramsey. In the 89th minute, Mehdi Torabi delivered a powerful shot from outside the penalty area, which flew wide of the goal. The referee added 9 minutes to the game. Alireza Jahanbakhsh receives a yellow card for a foul on an opponent. Wales tried to threaten the Iranians to the very end, but their defense proved too strong.
Wards Carlos Queiroz managed to take advantage of the numerical advantage in the last minutes of stoppage time. Roozbeh Cesmi fired a great shot from outside the box to put his team ahead. The Iranians did not stop there. Another counterattack also ended in a goal. Ramina Rezayan made a beautiful undercut and scored the ball into the net. After a while the referee stopped the match. Wales - Iran 0-2.
Source: Wprost
