Iran 2 - 2 Lëtzebuerg (393566926)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 18272 at Persian Gulf today. Tymen Duhamel was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Olivier Oppilliart and Abel Gavara. Iran tactics involved an interesting 2-5-3 combination. They fielded: Saeedi - Nasr Esfahani, Zartoshti - Shafiee, Niazi, Vahedi, Omidi, Parsa - Taheri, Monajati, Emad.

Lëtzebuerg started off with a 3-4-3 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Périsse - Fries, Block, Feller - Gengler, Caubet, Michels, Feidt - Cima, Elvinger, Cima.

Iran preferred to finish off their attacks from a distance. 1 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a Lëtzebuerg substitution. K. Neumann came on for S. Caubet. After 18 minutes, the Iran coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving A. Vahedi off the field. F. Dashti took his place. Always quick and a menace to his opponents, B. Parsa was very close to getting through after 23 minutes, but he could only put the ball into the keeper's arms. Lëtzebuerg took the lead 24 minutes into the game, making the score 0 - 1 after some elegant movement down the middle. K. Neumann was the scorer. After a fatal mistake from the away team's right side defence 26 minutes into the match, an alert A. Monajati bagged the ball for Iran, levelling the score to 1 - 1. 28 minutes in, Lëtzebuerg appeared unsure on how to play and their organisation was only poor. Many thought A. Monajati ought to have been awarded a penalty 32 minutes into the game, as he went down trying to dribble around G. Périsse after a determined run through the middle. Lëtzebuerg mounted an inspired counterattack down the right wing after 33 minutes, but E. Block was unable to convert from short range. 1 - 1 was the score after the first half. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Iran, with 72 percent of the ball.

Despite his frustration resulting in the smashing of a few teacups, the coach of Lëtzebuerg was able to get his message across, and raised Lëtzebuerg's organisation to passable. The corner kick from C. Fries was powerfully met by the head of K. Neumann to make the score 1 - 2. Some fine passing in the middle of the pitch, carving open the away defence, should have led to a goal for Iran, but A. Taheri's shot went over the bar. With 50 minutes having been played, Iran scored to make it 2 - 2. A dribble down the left wing, followed by a shot which took a wicked bounce off a defender resulted in the keeper having no chance. Everyone thought it'd been an own goal, but R. Niazi was marked down as the scorer. 59 minutes into the game, Lëtzebuerg seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion and they fell to a passable level of organisation. Making his way up the middle 67 minutes into the match, B. Parsa almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert G. Périsse blocked it to keep the score level. After 81 minutes Lëtzebuerg's C. Fries limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. Some great play up the middle by Iran led to a chance for B. Emad to score after 86 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. 89 minutes into the game, Lëtzebuerg wanted to bring some new energy to their game. L. Feidt gave G. Canal a quick hug as he left the field. As the 89 minute mark approached, the Lëtzebuerg coach decided it was time for a substitution. G. Elvinger reluctantly made way for M. Frommes on the pitch. Possession in this half belonged to Iran, who controlled the ball 57 percent of the time.

Most important Iran player was B. Emad. On the other hand, A. Zartoshti's play was disheartening. The most dominating Lëtzebuerg player was without a doubt G. Canal. C. Fries was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 2.