Lebanon 1 - South Korea 1; Iran 1 - Qatar 0

Doha was the site for the fourth tilt between Iran and hosts Qatar in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.  The previous three matches had all resulted in draws.  Qatar nearly had a crucial lead at home through a Hasan Al Haydos shot, but the shot rocked the crossbar and flew back into the field of play.  A very close-range free kick from the left edge of the penalty area nearly gave Iran a shock lead, but Masoud Shojaei's effort was tipped over the crossbar to safety by Qatar goalkeeper Qasem Burhan.  Burhan again showed why he is considered by this blog as a top-five goalkeeper worldwide with a top-notch save from the resulting corner kick.  Reza Ghoochannejhad had a free header at the far post, but as the cross was coming in Burhan dashed from his near post and leapt at Ghoochannejhad.  Burhan's momentum carried him beyond the shot, but his stabbed his left arm behind him to prevent the goal.  The first half somehow managed to end in a 0-0 deadlock.

In the second period, Iran were the much better side.  Shojaei thought he found himself open one-on-one with Burhan, but Qatari centerback Mosaab El Hassan came from behind to kick the ball away to oblivion.  A run by Team Melli substitute Mohammad Kholatbari was cut out by Qatari centerback Ibrahim Majid, but the ball deflected of Kholatbari and into the path of an onrushing Ghoochannejhad, who calmly finished under a diving Burhan to give Iran the lead.  Qatar made a late push, but it was mostly unorganized effort that made little inroads toward an equalizer.  Qatar had shouts for a penalty kick when Shojaei got a foot caught between the legs of Belal Mohamed, but the appeals were waved away.  Iran win 1-0.  The result guarantees that Uzbekistan will finish in third place at worst and that Qatar will finish in third place at best.

With the Iran victory in the earlier match, Lebanon knew they would have to defeat South Korea at home Beirut for the second time during the 2014 FIFA World Cup just to stave off elimination.  Korean attacker Lee Dong-Gook skied an early shot attempt, and then he failed to find the net again soon thereafter.  This time, Lebanon goalkeeper Abbas Hassan made a save on a low shot into his body after Lee Dong-Gook had collected from an aerial through ball.  Lebanon should have had the lead soon thereafter, but Mohamad Haidar let South Korea off the hook, missing an unmarked header from three yards.  Haidar was soon to be avenged, however.  A quickly taken short corner was gathered by Haidar, who then feinted his way around one marker before his drop pass was slotted home by Hassan Mattouk (pictured, red) for the opener.  Lebanon would take that 1-0 lead into the break with an eye on repeating their home victory against South Korea in round three.

South Korea were unbelievably dominant and unbelievably unlucky in the second half.  Abbas made a sliding block save after Lee Dong-Gook's through ball put Lee Chung-Yong in on goal.  Later, a free kick from Kim Chi-Woo (pictured, white #19) gave Kim Shin-Wook an unmarked header that was somehow missed.  Abbas saved a point-blank header from Lee Dong-Gook.  A Kim Kee-hee header off a corner kick lead to a one-time effort off the bounce from Lee Chung-Yong, but again Abbas stuck the ball in his gloves.  With twenty minutes to go, Son Heung-Min headed into the post off a free kick.  Clearly, a voodoo curse had been placed on the Lebanese goal.  Ten minutes from time, a header off a free kick was saved, leading to the rebound being knocked onto the post by Lee Dong-Gook, and a shot by Kim Shin-wook off the second rebound was blocked and rolled out to safety.  Seven minutes from time, a horribly missed shot bounced right into the path of Son, who swung and missed with the goal at his mercy.  After numerous instances of supposed cramping and substitutions made to waste time, Lebanon were out of substitutes and down to ten men.  Finally, South Korea made their superiority pay deep into stoppage time.  A free kick from inside the half circle was hit by Kim Chi-woo, whose left leg must surely have been tired from all the set pieces it struck in this match.  The ball deflected off Walid Ismail's head and into the Lebanese goal for the equalizer.  Ismail was then sent off a minute later for his second yellow card.  The match ends 1-1, eliminating Lebanon from the 2014 FIFA World Cup and moving South Korea to the top of the table.  South Korea are guaranteed to finish no worse than third place in the group.

South Korea 11 pts +6
Uzbekistan 11 pts +2
Iran 10 pts +1
Qatar 7 pts -4
Lebanon OUT

Goals
Iran
Reza Ghoochannejhad 66

Lebanon
Hassan Mattouk 12

South Korea
Kim Chi-Woo 90+7

Match Reports:
http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Iran-downs-Qatar-1-0-in-WCup-qualifying-4576170.php#photo-4735242
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/fullstory/2013/06/05/65/4500000000AEN20130605000500315F.HTML
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/fullstory/2013/06/05/13/4500000000AEN20130605000151315F.HTML

Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RarRQ9hQKJY (Iran v. Qatar)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKH9yTydKJI (Lebanon v. South Korea)