Well, that was off the syllabus. Nobody saw that coming. Isn't that the beauty of this game? There is no strong or weak; it's all about passion and excitement. It was supposed to be the "golden day" in Wales's history. Golden? Definitely not, but history has been written.
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A penalty from Gareth Bale helped Wales salvage a point against the USA in their first encounter in Group B. Qualifying for only their second World Cup and first in 64 years, Rob Page’s team found themselves down when Timothy Weah broke the stalemate in the first half before Bale struck the equalizer.
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𝓑𝓪𝓵𝓮 𝓶𝓪𝓭𝓮 𝓱𝓲𝓼 110𝓽𝓱 𝓼𝓮𝓷𝓲𝓸𝓻 𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓦𝓪𝓵𝓮𝓼, 𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓹𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓮𝓪𝓶𝓶𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓒𝓱𝓻𝓲𝓼 𝓖𝓾𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓻 (109) 𝓪𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓬𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓭 𝓹𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓮𝓻 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓷𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷'𝓼 𝓱𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂.
Wales made just one change to the team that drew with the USA last time out. It came in the attack, with Bournemouth striker Moore replacing James, who was dropped to the bench. Allen was also named as a substitute after coming back from injury.
WALES XI (3-5-2): Wayne Hennessey; Chris Mepham, Joe Rodon, Ben Davies; Connor Roberts, Aaron Ramsey, Ethan Ampadu, Harry Wilson, Neco Williams; Gareth Bale, Kieffer Moore.
SUBS: Danny Ward, Adam Davies, Chris Gunter, Joe Allen, Brennan Johnson, Joe Morrell, Tom Lockyer, Jonny Williams, Mark Harris, Dan James, Sorba Thomas, Dylan Levitt, Ben Cabango, Rubin Colwill, Matt Smith.
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As for Iran, they were at the bottom of Group B after losing 6-2 against England in their first match. Goals from Jude Bellingham and Raheem Sterling and a brace from Bukayo Saka gave Gareth Southgate’s side a four-goal advantage before Mehdi Taremi pulled one back for Iran. Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish both found the net to move England onto six goals before Taremi scored his second from the penalty spot. A win for Carlos Queiroz's side would move them up to second. It was now or never.
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Queiroz made five alterations to the team that lost 6-2 to England. Coming off in the previous match, goalkeeper Beyranvand was replaced by Hosseini. In the defense, the right back was also different, with Rezaeian coming in for Moharrami. In front of him on the right wing, Gholizadeh was preferred ahead of Jahanbakhsh, with Ezatolahi swapping with Karimi in the midfield. Finally, with Iran playing an extra striker instead of a center-back, Azmoun started instead of Cheshmi.
IRAN XI (4-4-2): Hossein Hosseini; Ramin Rezaeian, Morteza Pouraliganji, Majid Hosseini, Milad Mohammadi; Ali Gholizadeh, Ahmad Noorollahi, Saeid Ezatolahi, Ehsan Hajisafi; Sardar Azmoun, Mehdi Taremi.
SUBS: Alireza Beyranvand, Payam Niazmand, Amir Abedzadeh, Sadegh Moharrami, Shoja Khalilzadeh, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Karim Ansarifard, Vahid Amiri, Hossein Kanani, Saman Ghoddos, Roozbeh Cheshmi, Mehdi Torabi, Ali Karimi, Abolfazl Jalali.
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𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗿𝗮𝗻, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟭𝟵𝟳𝟴, – 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹 𝗗𝘄𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲.
A tight first half ended with the game goalless. With both sides demanding a victory, it was Wales who had the first opportunity. Moore prodded Roberts’ cross from the right towards the goal, but his attempt was turned away by Hosseini. Four minutes later, Iran thought they had snatched the lead. Roberts passed the ball straight to Iran inside Wales' half. Playing a one-two with Azmoun, Gholizadeh ran free inside the box to strike the ball into the net. However, following a VAR assessment, the goal was ruled out for offside. Bale also had a speculative effort denied, with Azmoun nearly getting on the end of Noorollahi’s cross.
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Wales was wasteful in the attack. Putting crosses into the box from both flanks as well as free-kicks, Iran found it effortless to clear the ball away. With Moore a clear target, they needed to do more to identify him. When the Bournemouth striker was found, he held up the ball brilliantly, setting up Wilson and Bale, who both squandered chances. Like Quiet for most of the match against the US before scoring the equalizer, Bale was having a similar game tonight. With the score tied, one moment of brilliance from him might win the game for Wales. As for Iran, they undoubtedly prospered from the introduction of Azmoun. The striker was a handful for the opposing defense, creating scoring chances and unsettling the Wales defenders at every opportunity.Azmoun. The striker was a handful for the opposition defense, creating scoring chances and unsettling the Wales defense at every opportunity.
Eight of Iran's 11 World Cup goals have come in the second half of matches (73 per cent), including each of their last six in a row.
The plan was simple. Follow that stat. And Iran were doing everything for that.
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10 of Wales’ 14 goals at their last three major tournaments (the Euros and World Cup) have seen at least one of Gareth Bale or Aaron Ramsey involved as a goal scorer or assist provider. They failed to make an impact so far, with Iran dominating the second half.
Wales have faced Asian opposition seven times in their history and have only conceded once in these games, keeping six clean sheets (W5 D2). Their most recent such game was a 6-0 win against China in March 2018. The post has helped them retain their clean sheet today.
But not anymore. Today the football rose again to write another history. RED CARD! Hennessey received a red card after bundling into Taremi outside the box. The striker got there first, knocking it past Hennessey, who cleared out the forward.
Will this be a game-changing moment? 🔴#FIFAWorldCup | #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/tJATNCZRCu
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 25, 2022
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𝗛𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗱 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗖𝘂𝗽, 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗜𝘁𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴 𝗞𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮 𝘃𝘀. 𝗨𝗿𝘂𝗴𝘂𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟬 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗹𝘂𝗰𝗮 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘂𝗰𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘆 𝘃𝘀. 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟰.
𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝙸𝚛𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝙴𝚞𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝙲𝚞𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚜 (𝙳𝟸 𝙻𝟽), 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝟸𝟶 𝚐𝚘𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜.
The time was indicating that stat once again. Iran's hope for the knockout was fading. Only four minutes remained in the extra time. This was it. But wait! Yes! Yes! That's football for you, my friend! GOAAALLLLLLL! WHAT A STRIKE FROM CHESHMI! 1-0 IRAN! That may be the winner! From outside the box, Cheshmi lashed the ball into the bottom corner after Allen's poked clearance rolled to his feet.
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Wait what! GOAALLLL! GAME OVER! 2-0 IRAN! One goal behind, Wales got caught on the counter. Taremi moved forward with the ball, waiting for support. Rezaeian rushed up from right back to the outskirts of the box, chipping it over Ward and into the goal.
𝙸𝚛𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚄𝚂𝙰 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚒𝚗 𝙶𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚙 𝙱, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚆𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝙴𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚍.
Bale's math is fading; only his magic can save Wales now. Even magic wouldn't be enough as they have to take on England, and only a win can see them through. But there is a huge, annoying but! First, they have to accomplish something very hard, and if the result of the other match doesn't go as planned, they have to beat the Lions by four goals.
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