FIFA U-17 World Cup:
Iran heartbroken by late defeat but likely to progress to last 16
Iran was devastated to concede a late goal in the 2-1 defeat against England in their Group C encounter at the U-17 World Cup but remains on course for a place in the knockout stage of the tournament in Indonesia.
Having rallied from behind to beat defending champion Brazil 3-2 in the group opener, Hossein Abdi’s boys looked set to pull off another upset when Abolfazl Zamani gave them the lead on the half-hour mark, only to see his goal canceled out by Reiss Denny’s tame effort from behind the box in the 63rd minute.
Manchester City academy product Joel Ndala completed the comeback for England with a sublime first-touch effort from an acute angle in the 90th minute to send the 2017 champion atop the table with maximum points.
Iran is third in the group, equal on points with second-placed Brazil, which thrashed New Caledonia 9-0 earlier on Tuesday.
Apologetic Abdi
“England was lucky to score two goals,” Iran head coach Hossein Abdi said after the match, adding: “Of course they are [former] world champions but we had no fear today and could have won it. I have to apologize to the Iranian people for the result.”
England enjoyed 62 percent of the possession and had 21 attempts against Iran’s seven, though Abdi was unfazed by the stats at fulltime.
“We were comfortable and in control even after we scored. I don’t care if they made a thousand passes because we were after the victory but unfortunately, that did not happen,” added Abdi, who also rued the heavy rain affecting the pitch at the Jakarta International Stadium.
“The English players are more used to playing in this kind of weather, not to mention my players only had two days of recovery after the game against Brazil. We had to play the champions of the previous two editions in the space of three days, and it is important to get enough rest in those circumstances. My players were clearly exhausted in the closing stages today,” said Abdi.
“I wish we would have played New Caledonia for our second game, so that I could rest some of the players before the final match.”
Iran will face New Caledonia on Friday, with a victory seemingly enough to see Abdi’s side progress – at least as one of the four best third-placed teams across the six groups – to the last-16 round.