Iran hosted Qatar in Tehran in each team's final qualifier in round three of Asian qualifying. Iran had an early attack come to fruition when a sliding, last-ditch effort resulted in a dangerous cross that was headed home by debutante and former German youth international Ahskan Dejagah for a 1-0 lead. Less than five minutes later, Yousef Ahmad Ali drew a penalty kick for Qatar after getting clipped by the goalkeeper's hands. The resulting penalty was converted, knotting the match at 1-1.
Early in the second period, Iran drew a free kick just outside the box from the left side. Dejagah stepped up to take the kick and calmly bent it around the wall and into the upper ninety at the far post, pushing Iran back into the lead, 2-1. Javad Nekounam almost eliminated Qatar with a strike, but the intersection of the crossbar and the post pushed away a hard rebound. Still down 2-1 late in the match and knowing that the 9-0 scoreline in the Bahrain match would see them eliminated if they could not equalize, Qatar drew a free kick from around forty meters from goal. Fabio Cesar provided excellent service and Kasola Mohammed beat the offside trap perfectly to get off a header within the six-yard box that he knocked home for the equalizer. The match ended at 2-2, and Qatar secured safe passage to the final group phase of Asian qualifying.
Bahrain welcomed Indonesia to a completely empty stadium in Manama knowing that they were in need of a resounding victory to overcome an enormous goal differential deficit of nine to Qatar. They received great news when Indonesia announced they were using a under-23 side. Bahrain got the best possible news when in the second minute Indonesian goalkeeper Samsidar Samsidar was red carded, leaving their opponents down a man for essentially the full ninety minutes. Bahrain took advantage for four goals in the first period.
The second half saw even less resistance from a shattered Indonesia side. Once the score reached 8-0, Bahrain knew they had done enough on their end to qualify. All that was left was for Qatar to lose in Iran. Bahrain eventually pushed the final score to 10-0, but Kasola Mohammed's late goal in Tehran meant that Bahrain's effort today was for naught. Hat tricks were earned by two Bahrainis, Mohamed Tayeb and Sayed Dhiya. Bahrain were awarded four penalty kicks in the match, and they converted two of them. In spite of securing the largest margin of victory in the 2014 FIFA World Cup so far, Bahrain will not be able to qualify for their third straight intercontinental playoff because they are out of the tournament thanks to Qatar's dramatic draw.
Iran 12 pts - IN
Qatar 10 pts - IN
Bahrain OUT
Indonesia OUT
Indonesia OUT
Goals
Iran
Ashkan Dejagah 4, 50
Qatar
Ibrahim Khalfan 9 PK
Kasola Mohammed 86
Bahrain
Ismael Abdullatif 5 PK, 71
Mohamed Tayeb 15, 60, 65
Mahmood Abdulrahman 34 PK, 41
Sayed Dhiya 62, 82, 90+4
Match Reports:
Full Match Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhj_eb424n4 (Qatar v. Iran)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxHZVJPBq5s&feature=related (Bahrain v. Indonesia)
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