Beach Soccer World Cup:
Iran beats Argentina to clinch last-eight spot
Sports Desk
Six Iranians were on the scoresheet as the country defeated Argentina 6-3 in Group B of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Dubai to secure a place in the quarterfinals with one game to spare in the group phase.
Mohammad Mokhtari bagged his fifth goal in two outings with goalkeeper Hamid Behzadpour and Reza Amiri adding a couple of wonder strikes to give the Asian champion a three-goal lead in the first period before Lucas Medero and Emiliano Holmedilla reduced the deficit to one.
Mohammad Moradi scored a superb team goal for Iran’s fourth of the night in the third period, though Medero’s free-kick kept the Albiceleste in the contest.
However, Movahed Mohammadpour restored the two-cushion with less than two minutes left on the clock and Ali Mirshekari rounded off his Player-of-the-Match performance with a goal to secure the maximum points for Ali Naderi’s men and send the Argentines packing.
“I’m so thrilled to progress to the next round. We had a tough group, but we did a great job [to finish in the top two].” Mirshekari said after the game, adding: “Our ultimate goal is to win the trophy. I am also grateful to the Iranian fans for the huge support tonight. It felt like we were playing at home.”
The top spot of the group will be at stake when Iran and Tahiti square off at the Dubai Design District Stadium today – in a repeat of the 2017 semifinal in Bahamas, which the latter won in the shootout.
Back-to-back runner-up in 2015 and 2017, Tahiti pulled off the joint-second-biggest comeback in the competition’s history against Spain earlier on Saturday.
Trailing by three goals midway through the match, the Tahitians eventually won 5-3 to sit atop the group table with six points, with Iran, which came out victorious in the shootout against the Spaniards in the group opener, in second on four points.