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Ikoli Victor
Doha
Qatar's hopes of playing in the 2018 World Cup in Russia seem to be in jeopardy following a painful 1-0 home defeat to Iran at the Al Sadd stadium on Thursday.
In front of a capacity crowd, Jorge Fossati's men failed to break past the ultra defensive Iranian side who have not tasted defeat or conceded a goal as yet in their six matches.
The loss has pushed Qatar to the bottom of Group A of Asia World Cup qualifying zone with four points, while Iran are on top with 14 points.
Qatar's chances of making it to Russia 2018 before it hosts the 2022 edition are almost but over. On Tuesday, Qatar will travel to Uzbekistan, who suffered a 1-0 loss to Syria on Thursday.
Before the game, Fossati had promised that the players will put in their best to collect the valuable points but it was not to be as the Iranians staved off every challenge from Qatar had and scored the all-important goal against run of play through striker Mehdi Taremi in the 52nd minute after he received an assist from Karim Ansarifard.
The game started brightly for Iran who had the first chance but Qatar goalkeeper Saad al Sheeb rescued the situation in the sixth minute.
Qatar's response came off a free kick from Hassan Haydos which Iran's Ali Reza quickly cleared.
Sardor Amzoun of Russian club FC Rostov fetched a free kick from a tempting distance but Alireza Jahanbakhsh shot inches wide of Qatar's post in the 13th minute.
Soon, Rodrigo Tabata swung into action for the hosts but his curling shot from a free kick was wide and also the full-stretched custodian Ali Reza had it covered.
Spanish La Liga-based Akram Afif brought the stadium to life with some fine dribbles from the left flank but his cross into the box was thwarted by the impressive Ali Reza.
Yasir Isa's one-time goal bound strike from a corner kick was collected by the well-positioned Iranian shot-stopper in the 33rd minute.
The game was evenly balanced as both teams waited on the other for a mistake to capitalise on. With six minute remaining in the first half, Iran almost broke the deadlock with captain Ehsan Haji left unmarked inside the vital area, but he was guilty of indecision as a Qatari defender recovered well to clear.
Qatar's Pedro Miguel was booked for his high foot challenge on Milad Mohammadi, who himself entered the referee's book in the sixth minute.
The big moment for Iran came six minutes into the second half when Mehdi Taremi scored with a calm finish from inside the box. The goal-scorer is the same player who scored against Al Rayyan in Iranian club Persepolis' 3-1 win in a Champions League match a fortnight ago.
Ibrahim Majed's long-range effort troubled Iran goalkeeper Ali Reza as he fumbled but Soria did well to pick the rebound in the 63rd minute.
Soon, there were appeals for a penalty after Akram Afif was brought down inside the box but Hong Kong referee Liu Kwok ignored them.
The game opened up for both sides as Iran came closer to scoring another but for a fine save by Saad al Sheeba.
As many as six minutes were added to regulation time and Qatar took a chance through Soria, but it was tame.
Post match, Qatar coach Fossati rued the missed chances."As promised our team tried to do their best and they put up a great fight. I think until the goal was scored, the game was in the balance. After the goal, we pressed hard but were not well organised.
"We had many opportunities that were not converted. I tried with a substitution to add firepower to the attack but unfortunately, we could not get the result we desired."
On the team's qualification chances, Fossati said:"Mathematically we are outsiders and are in bad situation. We have to think of the next game."
Delighted Iran coach Carlos Queiroz praised his players for their doggedness and congratulated them for the effort.
"It was a competitive match; World Cup qualifying games are very tough. When you are the best team on the pitch, you have a chance to win. We created many chances, it could have been 4-0 or 5-0. I congratulate the Qatar players for their fight but my greetings to my players for their doggedness. There's no doubt that we deserved to win this game," he added.
2018 World Cup Qualifiers Asia Zone Results
Group A: China 1 (Yu Dabao 34) South Korea 0; Syria 1 (Omar Kharbin 90+1-pen) Uzbekistan 0; Qatar 0 Iran 1 (Taremi 52)
Group B: Thailand 0 Saudi Arabia 3 (Mohammed Al Sahlawi 25, Tanaboon Kesarat 84 OG, Salman Almuwashar 92); Iraq 1 (Yaseen 76) Australia 1 (Leckie 40); UAE 0 Japan 2 (Kuba 13, Kunno 51)
