Qatar snatch creditable draw against Iran

After a 4-1 thrashing by South Korea in Doha last week, Qatar put a great deal of effort into their defence to frustrate the hosts, who have qualified for three World Cups, in front of a packed crowd at Iran’s most famous football stadium. Qatar now have four points from three matches, having beaten Lebanon in Beirut in their opening game two weeks ago. Iran, too, have four points, thanks to a win over Uzbekistan. The Qatari defence, the subject of much ridicule after their match against South Korea, kept the Iranians at bay, hardly giving them a clear chance at goal. A 30th minute shot by Iran captain Javed Nekounam was the best chance the hosts had, but unluckily for them the ball hit the crossbar, with goalkeeper Qassim Burhan clearly beaten. The Qataris had a couple of half chances which they squandered. Sebastian Soria was allowed a clear run down the right flank halfway through the first half but there was nobody to meet his cross as the ball sped across the face of the goal. A long-range effort by Fabio Cesar was calmly collected by goalkeeper Mehdi Rehmati, who also blocked a Hassan al-Haidous header off a corner in the 34th minute “A draw is a creditable result from an away match, especially when you are playing against Iran,” said coach Paulo Autuori. “The boys knew after their big loss to South Korea that they had to step up their game and it’s heartening they were up to the task,” he added. Meanwhile, Japan and Australia played out a pulsating 1-1 draw in their World Cup qualifier  which marred by some bizarre officiating with both sides finishing a man short. Elsewhere, there was little drama in Goyang as South Korea barely broke sweat to ease as expected to a 3-0 win over Lebanon, while Oman and Qatar held firm to claim draws against former Asian champions Iraq and Iran respectively.     All eyes were on Brisbane earlier in the day where Australia were hosting Japan in the first clash between the two best sides in the continent since the Blue Samurai prevailed in extra time to win the Asian Cup final last year. Japan had impressed in racking up two big home wins in their opening fourth round matches, but it was the Socceroos ageing squad that caused problems early on with some direct play before the visitors found their skilful feet in the second half. The momentum heavily switched in Japan’s favour on the hour mark after a daft decision by referee Khalil al-Ghamdi, who harshly sent off Australia substitute Mark Milligan. “How could he give a red card for that? It was beyond my comprehension,” Australia coach Holger Osieck said of the dismissal after Milligan collided with a Japanese defender whilst trying to connect with a cross. After buzzing around the Australian penalty area in a period of sustained pressure following the dismissal, Japan finally took the lead after a neat move by playmaker Keisuke Honda set up Yuzo Kurihara. Al-Ghamdi, however, was back in the centre of the action minutes later when he awarded a soft penalty to Australia after an off the ball incident at a corner, much to the surprise of both sides. Luke Wilkshire smashed home the penalty and both sides came close to snatching a winner before Al Ghamdi sent off goalscorer Kurihara for another soft yellow card late on. FIFA vice-president Prince Ali bin Al Hussein had already criticised the officiating seen so far in the opening Asian qualifiers and the performance of the Saudi official, who blew for fulltime as Honda lined up a free-kick at the Australian goal, will surely have irked him further. It was a far quieter evening for Japanese official Masaaki Toma in South Korea as the home side avoiding another shock loss to Lebanon by recording a comprehensive victory. Coveted midfielder Kim Bo-kyung scored twice as the Koreans eased past the lowest ranked side left in Asian qualifying. “Like I said many times before, we’re not able to compare ourselves to the Koreans - they are far ahead of us,” Lebanon coach Theo Bucker said. The Koreans will face much sterner tests later in the year away to Iran and Uzbekistan when World Cup qualifying in Asia resumes in September. The trip to Tehran will be particularly taxing as Qatar found out on Tuesday. The 2022 World Cup hosts escaped, however, with a 0-0 draw much to the frustration of 100,000 home fans. The Qataris showed little attacking initiative and resorted to time wasting for long spells in the second half as they claimed a point to leave the race to finish behind the Koreans wide open after the opening fourth round matches.