Iran made the trip to Jakarta looking for a win that would all but assure themselves of a spot in the AFC Fourth Round. Iran made sure that there would be no slip-up today as there was in Bahrain on Friday. Iran blitzed the Indonesia goal and scored three times in the first hour of play, sapping all hope from their opponents. Indonesia did manage one goal just before the halftime whistle, and the hosts went into the locker room down 3-1.It nearly took another half hour, but Iran were able to extend the lead on a converted penalty kick. Their fourth goal ended the scoring, and Iran win 4-1 on the road. So long as Bahrain do not win in Qatar later today, Iran will advance into the AFC Fourth Round on the back of this result.
Qatar hosted Bahrain in Doha in the final Group E match of 2011. Qatar knew that a win would be enough to qualify them for the next phase of qualifying. They also knew that a loss would leave them level on points with Bahrain and facing a difficult situation where they would be needing points on the road against Iran in the final group match. However, Qatar went onto the pitch with the purpose of playing for a draw and Bahrain went all out in attack. A draw would maintain Qatar's three-point lead on Bahrain going into the final matchday next February, and along with overcoming the three-point deficit, Bahrain would have to overcome a nine-goal deficit to Qatar in the goal-differential compartment in order to advance. Qatar's strategy to play defensively and risk nothing resulted in a safe 0-0 halftime score, though they had to survive a scare in the twenty-third minute when a Bahrain player blew a tap-in goal at the far post.
Qatar continued to play defensively and frustrate Bahrain. A Qatar counterattack sprang a one-on-one situation with Sayed Jaffer, who made a great save to deny Qatar the victory. However, Qatar achieved their mission on the day with the 0-0 home draw. Barring a pair of blowouts through which Bahrain can overcome their goal differential issue (Iran 5, Qatar 0 and Bahrain 5, Indonesia 0 for instance), Qatar have assured themselves of a spot in the final round of Asian qualifying. This scoreless draw guarantees Iran its spot in the final round.
Iran 11 pts - IN
Qatar 9 pts +5
Bahrain 6 pts -4
Indonesia OUT
Goals
Iran
Milad Midavoodi 7
Mojtaba Jabari 19
Gholam Rezaei 24
Javad Nekounam 72 PK
Indonesia
Bambang Pamungkas 43
Match Reports:
Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FhC1uWJuMI (Iran v. Indonesia)
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