Group D
Portugal 2, Iran 0
A sublime 63rd-minute long-range strike by midfielder Deco and an 80th minute penalty by Cristiano Ronaldo gave Portugal a hard-fought 2-0 win to send Iran packing from the World Cup yesterday.
The defeat means Iran have no points from their two Group D matches following their 3-1 defeat by Mexico in the opening match.
Portugal head the group on 6 points ahead of Mexico on 4.
From the start, Portugal found it tough to penetrate the packed defense of an Iranian team.
Deco, making his first World Cup outing, came close in the 12th minute when his left-footed strike produced a good one-handed save from Iranian goalkeeper Ebrahim Mirzapour.
Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari had fielded the Barcelona star, recovered from injury, along with Franciso Costinha and Maniche in place of Armando Petit, Tiago and Simao Sabrosa.
Manchester United winger Ronaldo fired just wide in the 35th minute and he and Luis Figo were always lively, but Iran held firm as it banked on counter-attacks.
Figo did connect 10 minutes later -- caught in the face by the high boot of a lunging Hossein Kaebi in what looked like a blatant challenge which was unspotted by French referee Eric Poulat.
The Portuguese striker was back in defense to make a crucial interception off Hashemian shortly after, and Portugal's attacking right back Miguel was unlucky after a barnstorming run, Mirzapour almost deflecting into his own net as the first half closed.
Ten minutes into the second half, Ronaldo forced another good Mirzapour save as he broke through on the left an hit a fierce left- foot shot. But just after the hour he had no chance against Deco.
Figo held the ball on the left, then cut in and put it at Deco's feet, and the Brazilian-born midfielder sweetly struck a screaming 25-yard shot into Mirzapour's top right-hand corner.
Moments after coming on as a substitute, Rasoul Khatibi had the Iranian fans believing a point was salvaged in the 68th minute as he stormed in -- only to hit wide.
Ricardo was again stretched in the 78th minute off Hashemian -- but Iran's demise was sealed moments later when captain Yahya Golmohammadi brought Figo down just inside the penalty area.
Ronaldo sent Mirzapour the wrong way with the spot kick -- and the Portuguese relief in wrapping up the victory was palpable.
Full report in tomorrow's edition of the Taipei Times.
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
Starting with three fights in the first nine seconds and ending with a celebration and a spot in the 4 Nations Face-Off final, the US on Saturday delivered exactly what Matthew Tkachuk hoped for by beating Canada. “We needed to send a message,” Tkachuk said. “The message we wanted to send is ‘It’s our time.’” Tkachuk fought Brandon Hagel off the opening faceoff, brother Brady tussled with Sam Bennett the next time the puck dropped, J.T. Miller dropped the gloves with Colton Parayko next and the Americans followed those fisticuffs with a 3-1 victory over their biggest rival. “That was one of the
RSS