A Thumama Thriller: Qatar see off Iran to reach second straight Asian Cup final
Ahmed Hashim at Al Thumama Stadium
DOHA: Almoez Ali scored an 82nd-minute winner as defending champions Qatar booked their place at a second consecutive Asian Cup final with a gripping and dramatic 3-2 victory over Iran in their semifinal clash at Al Thumama Stadium on Wednesday.
The result set Al-Annabi on their way to an All-Arab title decider at Lusail Stadium, against Jordan, who had stunned the continent earlier with an impressive 2-0 win over South Korea in the other semifinal.
Qatar and Iran came into Wednesday’s game with a lot of off-pitch drama brewing in the background. Iran’s coach Amir Ghalenoei and midfielder Saeed Ezatolahi both sought to put pressure on the Kuwaiti referee Ahmed Al-Ali before the game, with Ezatolahi in particular questioning the appointment of an Arab for this clash.
Qatar, meanwhile, reportedly made a last-minute attempt to change the venue for the semifinal to Al-Bayt Stadium, a place where they had won both of their knockout stage games, and importantly, it could house around 68,000 fans, compared to Al-Thumama’s figure of 44,000. However, the Iranian football federation rejected the request, before going on to complain they were only allocated 4% of the tickets, instead of the stipulated 8%.
The wider public all had one thing on their minds: getting a ticket for the game. The online queue became a meme as people spent hours and hours on the website, waiting for that little human figure to move an inch. With so much demand, a Category 3 ticket worth QAR 30, was seen on sale for more than QAR 5000 on the black market!
Yet, when the match kicked off, it was so disappointing to see that there were empty seats all around. Of course, it began to fill up gradually, but the total attendance on the night, when displayed on the screen came up around 4000 short of the stadium’s capacity. It raises a lot of questions about the sale and distribution of tickets.
While there was a lot of stuff going on away from the pitch worth discussion, our focus turned to the game when Al-Ali blew his kickoff whistle.
The crowd had barely settled into their seats when Iran took the lead.
In front of several little groups of buzzing Iranian supporters; AS Roma star Sardar Azmoun came up with an early goal (4′) after a long throw caused confusion inside Qatar’s box. The ball fell perfectly for Azmoun to score acrobatically with his back towards the goal.
Qatar’s defense was leaking early on, worrying their fans for sure. Iran got in behind multiple times after that but failed to get a connection to double their lead. There was always a feeling that an early goal would take the air out of Qatar, but we have to admit, they did not look deflated. However, that didn’t mean they emitted confidence either. It felt like they were floating in an eerie space between those two states.
The midfield seemed non-existent, and playing Yusuf Abdurisag out of the blue in a game like this also did not feel like the right move.
Just when we felt that this might go out of control, Qatar equalised (17′). Akram Afif brought down an aerial ball inside the area and played it towards Jassem Jaber who was just on the edge. The Al-Arabi man’s attempt took a deflection off Saeed Ezatolahi, before looping over Alireza Beiranvand to make the score 1-1. This was after Iran’s shout for a foul, which was not given in the build-up to the move. Controversial? Read on.
While Akram had done well, there was a lot of luck involved in that goal. There was a lingering feeling that it would be just an anomaly, especially with holes in Qatar’s defence only helping to increase Iran’s chances of getting back in the lead.
As we slowly edged towards halftime, Almahdi Ali was shown a yellow card after his flying arm hit Azmoun on the face in an aerial contest in midfield. If things had previously looked a bit worrying for the Qatar captain, he was now teetering on the brink. We couldn’t wait for halftime.
And then, like flicking a switch, Akram Afif scored (43′). Fathy won the ball cleanly with a tackle on the left and then it was all Akram. A couple of steps in the box, before moving on to his right foot, and bang. It was a fantastic strike to mark his fifth goal in the tournament. Beiranvand couldn’t stop it and the stadium erupted. We were now suddenly in the lead.
That was it. Qatar had turned things around. Somehow. Yet, all that did was increase our tension. We did not expect this. What were we to do with this lead?
When the teams emerged after the break, the tension did not die down. Almahdi Ali, carrying a yellow and looking shaky, was still on the pitch. Meanwhile, Ismail Mohammad, came on to replace the left wing-back Homam, changing the look of the defence, as Waad moved further to the left.
Yusuf Abdurisag, whose inclusion in the squad had been questioned by a lot of fans, then had a chance to extend the lead with a shot from close range which Beiranvand saved, keeping it out. The resulting corner saw Pedro’s header kept out by Khalilzadeh off the goal-line.
Things then heated up in the box. The referee looked like he might start dishing out bookings. Fortunately, that did not happen.
For all of Iran’s talk about Ahmed Al-Ali, he did not hurt them. In fact, Iran’s way back into the game was served to them on a platter when the referee pointed to the penalty spot in the 50th minute after a VAR review, citing a handball by Ahmed Fathy. It looked a bit soft; Fathy had already had his hands on his head after an aerial challenge and was in the process of bringing down his hands normally, when Ezatollahi’s point-blank shot came straight at his face, and of course, hitting his hands.
Yet, the decision was for a penalty to Iran. Barsham, who had stood his ground to deny Masharipov in the quarterfinal, went right. Jahanbakhsh slotted down the middle. 2-2.
It was a crucial moment in the match, one that made us fear that Iran would now come at you with all their strength to finish you off with the momentum they had.
Marquez then started to switch things around again. First, Al-Haydos replaced Yusuf Abdurisag. What surprised us was that for some reason, Almahdi who looked shaky and had been carrying a yellow was not replaced. Instead, it was Pedro taken off for Tarek.
Then, a few minutes later, Almahdi finally went off, to be replaced by Khoukhi Boualem. Phew.
As the second half moved to its final stretch, Iran piled on the pressure, serving lots of tense moments for Qatari fans. However, the new-look Qatari defense stood firm.
In the 74′, a looping Khalilzadeh header was tipped over the bar by Barsham. Taremi was then denied by Lucas Mendes, who was immense throughout the night. Right afterward, Azmoun’s header was cleared off the line by Khoukhi. Another massive sigh of relief.
Barsham went down again in the 80th minute, the second time he had needed treatment in the game. Thankfully, he got back on his feet, to a massive roar from the home crowd.
The big moment of the night came after that, with its onset marked by the introduction in the 81st minute of Abdulaziz Hatem, who came on for the goalscorer Jassem Jaber. Marquez was going for a late-impact player.
Moments later, he had the impact he needed. Abdulaziz’s attempted low shot fell right at the feet of Almoez Ali – out of all people – and the Duhail man made no mistake with his quick finish. After a torrid tournament so far, in which he had only scored one goal and seemed to struggle, here he was netting Qatar’s winner against Iran in an Asian Cup semifinal. Shouts of ‘offside!’ were put down with the help of the semi-automated system that showed Ramin Rezaeian had played Almoez onside.
It was Almoez’s 11th Asian Cup goal, over two editions, and he edged closer to breaking Ali Daei’s record of 14.
Despite the joy of that goal, the referee seemed to never stop giving Qatari fans reasons to worry, and one of his final acts was to set up a dramatic finale with 13 minutes of additional time.
The longest 13 minutes in the history of Qatari football were filled with moments of impressive, spirited defending. Qatar were winning every header, and putting everything into every tackle.
Iran were then reduced to ten men, with the sending-off of Khalilzadeh. He brought down Afif who was through on goal, and got exactly what he deserved, after a VAR review. There were now 10 more minutes to go.
In the 13th and final minute of added time, Ismail could have settled the game after Afif and Almoez conjured up a chance in the box, but he fumbled his attempt. The game edged on past the signaled period.
Then, as if it was fate, moments later, with added time completed, Jahanbakhsh’s shot hit the post and came back out. Everything stopped for a second. Within another second, the Qatari players were back in full focus. Barsham then starred again with a superb reflex intervention to push the ball out, denying Iran what looked like another sure goal.
What a dramatic ending that was to a historic, heart-stopping game. In the end, we move, to a final at that iconic venue in Lusail.