QATAR 2022 WORLD CUP: Iran beat Wales with two late unreplied goals to gain grounds in Group B
By Samson Adeyemo
World class goal from Iran forward, Roozbeh Cheshmi, in the eighth minute of added time crippled Wales struggles after first choice goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey had been shown a straight red card for sprinting off his line and fouling Mehdi Taremi in the 84th minute of the game.
Ramin Rezaeian then added Iran’s second goal as he finished off another rapid counter-attack with a brilliant finish over substitute goalkeeper Danny Ward to bring the match to a finish.
This heartbreaking result for Wales means they will need a comfortable win against England in their final Group B game to have any hope of reaching the last 16, while Iran, much-improved from their 6-2 loss to Gareth Southgate’s side, have renewed hope of achieving the feat for the first time..
This big win for Iran places Iran in the second place of Group B.
Wales captain Gareth Bale said on BBC: “It’s gutting, we’re gutted. There’s no other way to say it.
“We fought until the last second but it’s one of those things, it’s difficult to take, but we have to recover and go again.
“We have to pick ourselves up straight away. It’s going to be difficult, but we have one game left in the group and have to look at every positive and still try to enjoy the occasion.
On Wayne Hennessey’s red card, he added: “I haven’t seen it so I don’t know (if it was a red) but the red card changes the game completely. Obviously, we let the first one in and the second goal doesn’t matter.
“We recover and he have to go again.”
