AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers:
Dini, Rahmani on target as Iran beats Guam
AFC – Iran made it two wins out of two after defeating Guam 2-0 in Group F of the AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers on Friday.
Iran went into the tie in a better position, having opened their campaign with a 3-0 win over Malaysia while Guam – defeated 5-0 by Japan – needed victory to stay in the running.
However, the Central Asian side were quicker to get into stride and went ahead in the 16th minute through Maryam Dini, with the forward netting her third goal of the campaign.
To their credit, Guam showed more resilience compared to their tie against Japan and managed to keep Iran at bay for the remainder of the half.
Iran, however, kept knocking on the door and finally found their second in the 60th minute through Parnia Rahmani.
A Dini’s double, coupled with an Asal Qajarian’s strike, had secured an opening-day victory for Niloofar Ardalan’s girls against the group host on Wednesday.
Up next for Iran are Japan on Sunday, with the tie to likely decide the group winners.
The eight qualification group winners and best three runners-up will join host Thailand in the finals next April.