Iran kicked off their campaign in the FIFA U-17 World Cup with a 3-1 drubbing of Guinea in a Group C encounter at the Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in India on Saturday.
Defensive in the first half, Iran latched on to the chances that came their way, and scored through Allahyar Sayyad (59th minute), Mohammed Sharifi (70th) and substitute Saeid Karimi (90th) to gain full points from their opening game of the tournament, firstpost.com reproted.
Guinea got a consolation goal when Fandje Toure found the back of the net in the first minute of injury time.
Both teams failed to entertain the crowd during a lackluster first half. Guinea had more possession but lacked firepower, and Iran’s defense was always up to the task.
Playing with 10 men for more than 20 minutes in the second half, Guinea dominated the proceedings for a major part of the game and have themselves to blame for the defeat. They failed to convert the opportunities that came their way into goals.
After the game, Iran’s head coach Abbas Chamanian recalled how the first match of any tournament is always the most important. “It was a team effort and whatever plan and tactics we had in store for today worked out well,” he said.
“Our strategy is step by step, match by match. This was one challenge and Germany will be another one, it will be a very interesting game, no doubt,” he added.
With the win, Iran moved to the top of Group C ahead of Germany on goal difference, after the European team defeated Costa Rica earlier on Saturday.
Iran will face Germany on Tuesday and Guinea play Costa Rica.
