Iran 6 - Bahrain 0; Qatar 3 - Indonesia 2

Qatar visited Indonesia before 85,000 spectators in rainy Jakarta. Uruguayan-born Cristian Gonzales did his very best to do his adopted home country proud. Qatar must have thought a rout was possible when they scored a goal just before the quarter hour mark, but Gonzales would not let the match get out of hand. He scored twelve minutes after the opener to equalize at 1-1. Ibrahim Khalfan would chip the Indonesia goalkeeper from outside the penalty area for a 2-1 lead just six minutes later, but again Gonzales responded, this time after a three-minute wait. Indonesia were thankful for the 2-2 scoreline at the half.

In the second half, Qatar superiority eventually shone through. A breakaway occurred when Mohammed Razak received a throughball and outran two Indonesian defenders, after which he fired home into the upper ninety in the face of an onrushing keeper. The 3-2 result held up as Gonzales could not replicate his magic for a hat trick. Qatar look to be in good shape with home matches remaining against Indonesia and Bahrain.

Iran were prepared for an important and tough test against Bahrain at home in the cavernous Azadi Stadium in Tehran. However, the task was made simpler when Rashid Al Hooti got himself thrown out of the match in the first minute, leaving Bahrain with ten men for a full ninety minutes against the best team in their group. Al Hooti set the FIFA World Cup qualifying record by getting a red card at forty-three seconds for his two-legged spikes up tackle from the side into Iranian star midfielder Andranik Teymourian. Teymourian emerged healthy from the tackle, luckily. Bahrain cannot be said to have emerged in quite as good of condition. Iran punished Bahrain with three goals in the first half to take a 3-0 lead into the break.

In the second half, Iran did not let up, scoring yet another trio of goals. Teymourian, as if to prove his health, scored the fourth goal of the match. The final score was 6-0, and a humiliated Bahrain side left with over 83,000 smiling faces applauding the triumph of Iran.

Iran 7 pts +9

Qatar 5 pts +1

Bahrain 4 pts -4

Indonesia 0 pts -6

Goals

Qatar

Abdulaziz Al-Sulati 14

Ibrahim Khalfan 32

Mohammed Razak 59

Indonesia

Cristian Gonzales 26, 35

Iran

Seyed Hosseini 22

Mojtaba Jobari 34

Hadi Aghili 42

Andranik Teymourian 62

Karim Ansari 75

Gholam Rezaei 83

Match Reports:

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/international-sport/168752-attacking-game-lifts-qatar-in-pouring-rain-.html

http://www.the-afc.com/en/tournaments/men-a-youth/fifa-world-cup/36744-iran-v-bahrain

Highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72WfNcLJvcA (Qatar v. Indonesia)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOfGjswpJpQ (Iran v. Bahrain)