Group F kicked off its final matches as Iran faced Bosnia and Herzegovina in an attempt to qualify to the Round of 16. Iran has had a decent world cup run even though they don’t have world class players like their group rivals do. Bosnia is already eliminated from the next round as they lost their first 2 matches against Nigeria and Argentina.
Both teams heavily pressured each other since the moment the whistle blew. The defenses for both lines were working hard as the forwards were looking for holes that they can take advantage of. The first goal came on the 23rd minute as Edin Dzeko put it in the back of the net with a low power shot.the Iranian keeper couldn’t reach it even though he dove for the ball. Iran woke up right after the goal as they came close to scoring but the shot didn’t come out to well. Asmir Begovic came to Bosnia’s rescue on the 30th minute as he blocks a dangerous play which later turned to be offside. The score at half time remained 1-0 in favor of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The first substitution of the match had Masoud Shojaei coming off for Khosro Heydari on the 46th minute. Even though Bosnia is eliminated already, that didn’t stop them from playing hard as Miralem Pjanic scored the second goal for Bosnia on the 59th minute. Bosnia’s first substitution had Ohnjen Vranjes replacing Anel Hadzic in the midfield. Iran substituted Alireza Jahan Bakhsh in for Ehsan Haji Safi on the 63rd minute. The final substitution for the Iranians had Karim Ansari Fard replacing Ashkan Dejagah on the 67th minute. Muhamed Besic received the first yellow card of the match on the 77th minute after a hard challenge. The second substitution for Bosnia had Sejad Salihovic coming on for Tino-Sven Susic on the 79th minute.
After 82 minutes of pressuring, Reza Ghoochannejihad finally netted the first goal for Iran on the 82nd minute. Just when Iran had hope for the game, Bosnia comes and destroys it when Avdija Vrsajevic scored the third goal for Bosnia on the 83rd minute. Edin Visca came on for Edin Dzeko on the 84th minute. After not marking a penalty for Iran, Karim Ansari Fard argued with the referee to reward himself with the first yellow card for Iran on the 88th minute.
The match ended 3-1 with Bosnia taking their first victory of the tournament. Both Bosnia Herzegovina and Iran will be heading home after today because they failed to qualify into the Round of 16. Argentina and Nigeria will be moving on to the next round. Who will Argentina and Nigeria face in the next round?
Photo Credit: Sergei Grits/Associated Press