Sardar Azmoun gave the Iranians the lead before Ahmed Yasin grabbed the equaliser in the second half. In between Mehrdad Pooladi was controversially sent off after getting two yellow cards in the first half. In extra time the Iraqis took the lead through Younis Mahmoud before Pouraliganji equalised. Yet more goals followed with each side scoring the last 5 minutes of extra time before Amiri's missed penalty in the shootout turned out to be the difference between the sides.
A local rivalry with even more at stake than usual was what awaited the fans the Canberra as these two regional giants went head to head for a place against South Korea in the semi-finals. They’re both on top form with Iran on a high after winning their group in the 90th minute of the final game whilst Iraq beat Palestine and Jordan before narrowly losing to Japan. Despite having not won the continental title since 1976 Iran came into the tournament as one of the favourites having been the most impressive Asian side at the World Cup.
Iraq are still fuelled by the memory of their shock 2007 victory and many fans hope they can do the same again this time around. When Iraqi coach Radhi Shenaishil was asked about whether the two countries’ checkered past would affect the game he said; “Both Iran and Iraq will be telling their players to have a quality game and forget their emotions.
The game will be extra special for Iranian captain, Javad Nekounam, who will reach 150 international appearances, a feat achieved by Japan’s Yasuhito Endo earlier in the tournament. He will overtake Iran legend Ali Daei. Iraq, similarily, are powered by their veteran captain, Younis Mahmoud, who scored the winner in the 2007 Final. He has only managed one goal so far in this tournament but will be desperate to score against his country’s biggest rivals.
Despite the goal in the opening 45 minutes there wasn’t actually very much goalmouth action with only 2 shots on target, one for each side. Pooladi’s booking in the 21st minute after his late challenge on Ahmed Yasin. It was Pooladi’s second yellow of the tournament and it meant he would miss the semi-final should they get there. 2 minutes later Iran took the lead. The combination of Ashkan Dejagah and Vouria Ghafouri down the right hand side had been a constant threat throughout the half and they combined once again for the goal.
Dejagah came inside which allowed Ghafouri to run down the line behind him, Dejagah fed the ball to him and Ghafouri whipped in a superb cross for Sardar Azmoun. Azmoun rose brilliantly and headed it just inside the post to give his side the lead in the quarterfinal. Dejagah once again was involved in the build-up for the next chance for Iran that fell to Ehsan Hajsafi whose shot was blocked well by Ahmed Ibrahim. Then, on the stroke of half-time came the extremely controversial moment that saw Pooladi get a second yellow before being sent off.
He was running for the ball inside the box when the Iraqi keeper Jalal Hassan smothered it but Pooladi kept going and appeared to leave a foot in. Hassan wasn’t happy with this and quickly got up and gave the left back a slight push before Pooladi fell to the ground holding his face. Referee Ben Williams was having none of it and booked Pooladi for simulation, a decision that was a bit harsh. However, Williams forgot that he had already booked Pooladi and only realised after the Iraqi informed him.
Williams has already been involved in some controversial moments in this tournament, in Iran’s first group game manager Carlos Queiroz said Williams “wasn’t at the level of the game”. Williams also angered the Uzbek players in their crucial group match by awarding an extremely soft penalty to Saudi Arabia before dubiously disallowing an Uzbekistan goal later in the game. In this match Queiroz had to be physically restrained at half time by one of his players.
The second half began with two substitutions, one for each side. Vahid Amiri Masoud Shojaei for Iran whilst Marwan Hussein came in for Justin Meram in the Iraqi team. It didn’t take long for he Iraqis to equalise against ten men, Yasin scored in the 54th minute. Alla Abdul Zahra played a neat one-two before firing the ball across goal towards Mahmoud but he missed it under pressure from Pouraliganji. Yasin picked it up on the far side of the box and fired it into the net from a tight angle.
Iraq suffered a blow in the 68th minute when holding midfielder Yaser Kasim was booked meaning that he will miss the semi-final against South Korea if they get there. They nearly lost another player after Ibrahim escaped a second yellow for a foul against Amiri, no booking was probably the right decision as Ibrahim had nowhere to go. Apart from some more booking there was no more noteworthy action in the 90 minutes and both teams now faced the prospect of extra-time and possibly penalties.
The first half in extra-time was incredible, just two minutes the Iraqis took the lead courtesy of their talismanic striker Mahmoud. A great interchange between Ismail and Ali Adnan down the left set the left back free inside the box. Ismail’s sot from a tight angle bounced off keeper Alireza Haghighi’s leg to the back post where Mahmoud tapped it in with a diving header.
It seemed they would hold on for the first half at least until Iran won a corner in the 103rd minute. Andranik Teymourian took it and Pouraliganji rose above everyone else to head home. Yet more drama was to follow in the second 15. Five minutes before the full 120 minutes were Pouraliganji went hero to villain as he brought down Kasim inside the box and Williams awarded the penalty. Youn Ismail stepped up and cooly sent it straight down the middle. But Iran weren’t finished yet.
Iran won another corner in the 119th minute, it was sent in an all hell broke loose. The first attempt hit the post before Hussei’s header hit the crossbar, crossed the line but was cleared back out and the referee didn’t blow his whistle. However, the rebound fell to Ghoochannejhad who headed in from close range to make sure.
Right at the death Haghighi was caught high up by Hussein that greatly angered the Iranians and some subs even joined the ensuing fracas. One of them was booked as was Hussein for the initial foul. Haghighi’s injury brought the game to a close and penalties awaited. Each team missed their first penalty, Hajsafi for Iran and Saad Abdulameer for Iraq but then they the next 5 pens for both team were perfect.
Amiri stepped up next and looked confident but he dragged his effort onto the post meaning that if Iraq scored next then they would win. Salam Shakir stepped up and also seemed to score in slow motion as he wheeled away to celebrate with his teammates.