Iran Fails to Advance to AFC U-20 Futsal C’ship Final

Four minutes into the game at the Pour Sharifi Indoor Stadium in Tabriz, Japan was awarded a free-kick, which cost Iran dearly, as the East Asian demonstrated its set-piece prowess with Hashimoto Reira finding the back of the net.

Masoud Yousef Shavardazi etched his name on the scoresheet after unleashing a crackling left-footed strike in the 10th minute.

Japan was reduced to making quick passes within its own final third due to the Iranian pressure, and paid the price for a lapse in concentration by its defense when Iran’s Sajjad Sarbaz intercepted Hatakeyama Yuki’s back pass inside the box, and the forward made no mistake in beating Hiroshi in the 18th minute.

Iran's lead, however, lasted less than 30 seconds when Yamada Kaito was left to his own devices on the left flank, where he then surged down the court before sending it to Otsuka Hiroto to redirect the ball into the goal mouth from close range.

Japan dominated possession in the opening minutes of the second half, and while it suffered a scare in the 22nd minute when Salar Aghapour and Reza Ghanbarisaeidabad were denied by Hiroshi, a moment of brilliance from Osawa Mashashi from outside the box caught the Iranian ‘keeper off guard in the 24th minute.

Backed by a thunderous home crowd, it didn’t take long for Iran to find the equalizer, this time Dehghannezhad stealing the spotlight after he outmuscled Kimura Yuta in front of the box and drilled his strike home.

The tenacious Dehghannezhad showed that he is unstoppable when presented with a chance at the edge of the box, as he put Iran back in front with a strike similar to his previous effort.

With four minutes left on the clock, Kaito came off the bench as Japan’s fifth attacking member. He was then brought down right outside the box, but Motoishi failed to beat Niknamtorghabe with his free-kick.

Japan’s power play almost backfired in the 39th minute when Belal Esmaeili Kooraneh intercepted a pass but his strike from distance missed the target by mere inches as the ball bounced off the post.

There was to be drama in the final 40 seconds when Japan was awarded a penalty for a harsh tackle on Masashi, and Motoishi was perfect in converting from the spot to bring the game into extra time.

Japan’s set-pieces had been impressive throughout the tournament and the young Samurai Blue struck in the 43rd minute from one of those when Motoishi let loose a long range strike that deflected off Niknamtorghabe and into the path of Rintaro Iguchi, who simply tapped the ball in with ease.

It was through a set-piece yet again in the 47th minute, as Jiei Yamada opened his tournament account, before captain Hatakeyama Yuki and Kimura Yuta also got into the goalscoring action with long range strikes into an unguarded goalmouth after Iran had opted for power play.

Iran had no chance of making a comeback, especially when Sahand Rezapour was given his marching orders just moments later, and the 2017 champion must now face Indonesia in the third-place play-off on Saturday.