Iran beats Uzbekistan to move one step closer to 2018 World Cup

EghtesadOnline: Iran's national football team defeated Uzbekistan's national team 1-0 in the third round qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

News ID: ۷۳۷۴۴۲

11 October 2016

Uzbekistan came into the tie on the back of 1-0 wins over Syria and Qatar, but Hosseini’s goal on 27 minutes proved the difference maker as Carlos Queiroz’s team picked up their seventh point in three games to remain unbeaten so far, reports IRNA.

“I think we deserved this victory,” said Queiroz.

“Uzbekistan also played well, but they controlled the ball in their area; we tried to go on the counterattack when we took ball,' he added.

Uzbekistan went into the game without captain Odil Akhmedov due to his inability to recover from injury, while Queiroz made a raft of changes to his midfield and attack with an eye on the crunch match with Korea Republic on Tuesday.

One of those changes, Reza Goochannejhad, could have opened the scoring inside 10 minutes but he sliced his volley high and wide after he was picked out inside the area by full-back Ramin Rezaeian’s fine cross.