AFC U17 Asian Cup:
Iran coach Chamanian rues late collapse in Oman defeat
Head coach Abbas Chamanian lamented the lapse of concentration in the closing stages after his side suffered a 3-2 defeat against Oman in Group D of the AFC U17 Asian Cup in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Mahan Beheshti’s left-footed free-kick gave Iran a 39th-minute lead, before Walid Al Rashdi drew Oman level eight minutes after the break.
Iran restored the lead almost from the restart through Ehsan Kheradpisheh, who finished Mahan Alipour’s cutback into the top corner.
However, Ahmed Al Amrani turned the game on its head inside 15 minutes, bagging a second equalizer for Oman in the 74th minute, before his last-gasp spot-kick secured all points for the two-time champion.
“We didn’t focus during the last 15 minutes,” Chamanian said.
“I told the players that leading by one goal was not enough, and if they didn’t score more it would be difficult for us. There were many chances in the first half that we did not take. Oman, however, made good use of theirs in the second.”
The result left Chamanian’s boys bottom of the table with a single point, courtesy of a first-day 1-1 draw against Oman.
North Korea defeated Tajikistan 3-0 earlier in the day to overtake the Central Asian side on top of the standings with four points.
Tajikistan, which defeated Oman 2-1 in their first outing, is second – on course for a last-eight spot heading into the final round of the group phase.
Champion in 2008, Iran will have to beat Tajikistan on Friday and hope the result in the simultaneous fixture go its way to progress to the quarterfinals.