Iran 1-1 Portugal
Portugal qualified for the Round of 16 after a dramatic and, at times bad-tempered, draw with Iran who are on the way home. FIFA 2018 has thrown up some incredible drama but this was an absolute cracker!
The thing is, Portugal is safely through to the next round, but as second placed qualifier from Group B, so now must face a tough clash against Uruguay, and on this display I’d have my concerns.
Fernando Santos’ Portugal just needed to avoid defeat to guarantee their progress into the Round of 16, and the SBOBET Odds pointed to a Portugal win, but we expected a tight and nervous affair. And we certainly got one.
Carlos Queiroz was facing his home nation as head coach of Iran, and knows Portugal’s best player, Cristiano Ronaldo, better than most from his time as Number Two to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. And one of the surprises of the night was Ronaldo missing a penalty, and almost getting sent off as, in the second half, everyone seemed to go crazy.
But what a game to watch!
Highlights of the game
Plenty of FIFA 2018 betting tips backed Cristiano Ronaldo for the Golden Boot, but we didn’t see as much of him as we expected in the first half and it wasn’t the Los Blancos star who provided the first moment of genius… for a change.
Right on the stroke of half time Ricardo Quaresma, on his first World Cup start, scored a beauty. We’ve seen some great individual goals at the World Cup and this was another. Portugal moved the ball quickly and Quaresma picked it up on the right and, with the outside of his foot hit an absolute peach beyond Alireza Beiranvand and into the far corner of the net.
That was largely it for the first half, but the second was an entirely different matter. Very early in the second period came a moment of huge drama when Ronaldo weaved his way into the box and fell under a challenge. The ref waved away the penalty appeal, but a VAR reversal of the decision sent the Iran players apoplectic with rage. But their mood changed when Beiranvand saved Ronaldo’s spot kick superbly.
Maybe justice was done. Iran knew they had to win to progress and that miss just kept them in the game.
But the second half was a scrappy affair at times as both teams became more irritable and edgy. Quaresma was booked for a crazy challenge on Saeed Ezatolahi, throwing the FC Rostov man to the ground. And as the Besiktas winger seemed to get more wound up Santos took him off to be replaced by Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva.
Iran searched for a goal to get them back in the game and Saman Ghoddos had a try from just outside the box but was narrowly wide, and a few minutes later on 75, a rather desperate penalty appeal was rightly turned down.
Then Ronaldo got ugly, swinging his arm into Pouraliganji and the Iran man went down clutching his face. For an agonizing five minutes the ref consulted VAR and the result, much to the relief of Portugal, was just a yellow card.
Then came yet more VAR drama when Cedric Soares was harshly adjudged to handle in the box and Iran had a penalty. Ansarifard hammered the ball into the roof of the net, just as news came through that Spain had equalised in Morocco and suddenly Portugal was nervous again.
And on 94 minutes Iran came so close when Mehdi Taremi found himself in a great position and fired into the side netting when he should have scored.
Queiroz knew, the whole of Iran knew, that was the chance.
Key statistics
Portugal dominated the ball at the Mordovia Arena, with 73 per cent possession and twice as many shots as their opponents at a count of 14 to seven.
It was a grumpy old game with 27 fouls, Iran conceding 16, but Portugal picked up four yellow cards to Iran’s two as they became more and more wound up.
What’s next?
So Groups A and B are settled in the most dramatic of circumstances and Portugal must now face Uruguay in the next round on Saturday. Oscar Tabarez’ team has won its group with a 100 per cent record and without conceding a goal. That is one tough game.
Iran goes home but they certainly put up a fight tonight.
The World Cup has exceeded expectations so far as the most exciting in recent memory. So keep watching, and keep looking here for the best FIFA 2018 updates.
There are still over two weeks to go!
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