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Battling China earns first point after Iran draw
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CHINA held heavyweight Iran to a gritty 0-0 draw at home in Asian qualifying last night to raise its hopes of reaching just its second World Cup.
Asia’s sleeping giant lacked ambition in the first half but it went for broke in the second in a performance that was good enough to earn its first point of the third round.
China has only ever reached one World Cup, in 2002, but qualifying for Russia 2018 would be a significant statement for a country which aims to become a global football power.
There were encouraging signs in last week’s 2-3 defeat to South Korea, and Iran, Asia’s top-ranked side, would have held few fears for Gao Hongbo’s men in front of a partisan, red-shirted home crowd.
However, a dire first half was more notable for its fouls than its goalmouth action as both sides struggled to gain momentum on a poor pitch in Shenyang, Liaoning Province.
Chinese goalkeeper Zeng Cheng and Iranian defender Pejman Montazeri both left the field after separate clashes as the two teams tried to impose themselves physically.
Masoud Shojaei dragged Iran’s best chance wide and Zhang Yuning’s ambitious effort on the turn was China’s nearest sight of goal in the first 45 minutes.
But China attacked with renewed intent after the break and it was a different spectacle in the second half as the game opened up.
Alireza Jahanbakhsh should have netted for Iraq but he blazed a glorious chance over, while Zhang was denied by Morteza Pouraliganji’s desperate block.
Iran goalkeeper Ali Beiranvand smothered at the feet of Wu Lei and Chinese substitute ‘keeper Gu Chao also saved sharply in the final minute to ensure China’s first point of Group A.
Defeat to Carlos Queiroz’s team would have slashed China’s odds of reaching the World Cup but it will now tackle its remaining eight games with renewed confidence.
South Korea, meanwhile, hit a speed bump in its bid to reach a 10th World Cup as it was held to a goalless draw against a Syrian side that is unable to play at home due to the country’s long-running, bloody conflict.
The frustrated South Koreans dominated possession during the match held in the Malaysian city of Seremban but largely failed to threaten the Syrian goal.
South Korea was expected to notch an easy win against Syria, which lost 0-1 to Uzbekistan in its previous match.
Also in Malaysia, Nawaf al-Abid scored twice from the penalty spot in the last nine minutes as Saudi Arabia beat Iraq 2-1. It is now top in Group B with two wins from two matches.
Mohanad Abdulraheem scored early for Iraq, which also lost in Australia, and was still searching for a first point after two matches. War-torn Iraq is playing its home fixture in Malaysia’s Shah Alam.
In Bangkok, Japan bounced back from its opening loss at home to the United Arab Emirates by beating Thailand 2-1.
Genki Haraguchi headed the dominant visitors into a first-half lead, and Takuma Asano sealed the win in the second half.
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