On the evening of February 7, 2024, Beijing time, the Iranian team faced the host Qatar team in the semifinals of the Asian Cup. After that, the Qatar team launched a fierce attack and completed the equaliser in the 17th minute. In the 43rd minute, Afif scored another goal to complete the half-time reversal.
Qatar has failed to beat Iran for 14 consecutive years. It is worth mentioning that the head coach of the Iranian team, Galenoe, has not lost a game in his first year in office. In today's game, the Qatar team is also riveting, hoping to break the embarrassing record of "no victory in Iraq" in one fell swoop.
In the third minute of the opening game, Iran won a throw-in, Azmoun took the ball with his back at this time, but he used an "upside-down golden hook" to break the goal, completely playing the Qatar backline.
The backward Qatar team did not suffer much in terms of mentality, but quickly adjusted from 3 central defenders to 4 defenders. In the 17th minute, Qatar's stubborn attack finally paid off, as Jassim's header hit two Iranian players and eventually refracted into the net. It was a dramatic goal as it was two Iranian players who scored after completing assists to make it a 1-1 draw.
It should be said that both teams played very openly in this game, and there was almost no time to think about how to defend, and both teams were attacking with all their might.
After the 1-1 draw, the attacking tempo of the two teams slowed down, but Qatar clearly got used to Iran's hand-tossed and corner kicks. The goal conceded in the third minute of the game was just a little uncomfortable at the time.
In the 31st minute, Qatar's main striker Akram Afif almost scored and wasted a good chance. In the time since, Qatar has had significantly more chances than Iran. But Iran's defense is still tough, which is also their usual style.
As both teams are strengthening their tackling in midfield, both teams have a low pass success rate (Iran 63% vs Qatar 58%).
However, in the 43rd minute, Afif scored another goal, they successfully broke the ball through active steals in the front, Afif was in the Iranian team's penalty area as if no one, played a "1 to 4" full moon scimitar, and finally broke the goal, rewriting the score to 2-1, Qatar completed a big reversal at halftime. It seems that the Iranian team is going to run into trouble. They spent too much on physical fitness in order to eliminate the Japanese team in the last round.