Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Belo Horizonte: A moment of Lionel Messi magic in stoppage-time denied Iran a deserved point as Argentina edged the three-time Asian champions 1-0 at the Estadio Mineirao on Saturday.
It was cruel luck on an Iranian side that not only defended heroically for 91 minutes but had a couple of reasonable chances as well as a strong shout for a penalty turned down as the South American superstars were made to work for the three points that took the through to the knockout stage.
Argentina made two changes from the side that laboured to a 2-1 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina with Fernando Gago and Gonzalo Higuain coming in at the expense of Maxi Rodriguez and Hugo Campagnaro as Alejandro Sabella opted for a more attacking formation than the one that started their opening fixture at the Maracana Stadium.
While the Argentines had the lion's share of possession in the opening exchanges it was Iran who had the first chance at goal with four minutes at the Estadio Mineirao played when an unmarked Jalal Hosseini mistimed his header and glanced Ashkan Dejagah's free-kick wastefully wide.
Argentina's first real threat on the Iranian goal came ten minutes later when Gago delivered a superb ball from the right touchline into the path of Higuain but Iran keeper Alireza Haghigi was alert to the danger and blocked well at the feet of the Napoli forward.
Surprisingly, Iran had the first corner of the match in the 17th minute but it came to nothing and less surprisingly an Argentine attack came seconds later with the South Americans sweeping forward with purpose only for the move to breakdown in the attacking third following a poor touch from Higuain.
Higuain teed up Sergio Aguero in the 22nd minute but the flying Haghigi palmed away the Manchester City star's curling effort before Marcos Rojo headed wide from Angel di Maria's corner, Argentina's first, a minute later.
The pattern of the first half continued in the second with Argentina dominating but struggling to penetrate a resolute Iranian defence and after Zabaleta and Aguero both missed chances for the South Americans it was the Asians' turn to come close with Reza Ghoochannejad heading Pejman Montazeri's 52nd minute cross straight at keeper Sergio Romero following a fine counter-attack led by Shojaei.
Three minutes later Serbian referee Milorad Mazic waved away Djeagah's strong appeals for a penalty after the Fulham player of the season was clearly upended by Zabaleta before Lionel Messi, who fired a 33rd minute free-kick over the bar in an indifferent first-half for the Barcelona superstar, showed a glimpse of his ability on the hour mark with a purposeful run and shot that went narrowly wide.
Seven minutes later Romero displayed sharp reflexes to deny Djeagah while Messi hit the side netting with a 73rd minute free-kick, awarded following Andranik Teymourian's follow on Di Maria, who had an angled shot blocked by Haghigi two minutes later.
With 15 minutes remaining Sabella looked to freshen up his attack with a double substitution as Aguero and the disappointing Higuain made way for Ezequiel Lavezzi and Rodrigo Palacio respectively while Iran coach Carlos Quieroz replaced Shojaei with Heydari.
A swift counter-attack saw Iran come close with four minutes to play with Romero doing well to keep out Ghoochannejad, who didn't get close enough to the Messi as the diminutive attacker skipped past the Charlton Athletic striker with ease before unleashing a superb curling effort from outside the Iran area to seal the stoppage time win.
Photo: AFP