Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Goa: Allahyar Sayyad bagged a brace as Islamic Republic of Iran advanced to the semi-finals of the AFC U-16 Championship India 2016 after a resounding 5-0 quarter-final victory over Vietnam at Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium On Sunday.
Sayyad opened the scoring after 29 minutes before Mohammad Ghaderi doubled their advantage early in the second half and Alireza Asadabadi gave Vietnam a mountain to climb just after the hour.
A dominant Iran then put their opponents to the sword as Amir Khodamoradi and Sayyad’s double wrapped up a comfortable win as Abbas Chamanian’s side progressed to the last four and also ensured a return to India for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup as one of the tournament’s top four teams.
Chamanian hails Iran's superb second-half performance
Vietnam began confidently and had their first chance of note on eight minutes when Nguyen Tran Viet Cuong’s powerfully struck left-foot effort from 20 yards was tipped over the bar by goalkeeper Ali Gholam Zadeh.
The custodian was again on hand in the 16th minute to save Vu Quang Do’s volley from 10 yards after Nguyen Trong Long picked out the defender with a deep corner from the left.
Without their injured skipper Aref Alipour for a second game in succession, Iran came back into the tie and broke the deadlock in the shortly before the half hour.