Speaking after Iran’s progress to the last eight of the competition, Ezatollahi, a key player in Iran’s midfield, said: “Mehdi was the saddest player after he was sent off. In my opinion, the first yellow card was not correct, the same situation happened to the right back of Syria and he was not given the yellow card. We have 26 Taremis and we will fight.”
The star player was red-carded after receiving a second caution on the stroke of full-time as Iran almost unraveled. They played extra time with 10 men but kept their shape and discipline as Hector Cuper failed to make Syria’s numerical advantage count. Iran converted all their penalties while Alireza Beiranvand saved Fahd Youssef’s spot kick.
Ezatollahi added that the Syria test was “positive” and that the penalty shootout drama will make Iran “more united” ahead of their blockbuster quarter-final against Japan.