After review,” began the Polish referee Szymon Marciniak, those two words breaking the hearts of Iran after they thought they scrambled an unlikely 93rd-minute winner. Moments earlier, the 37-year-old Shoja Khalilzadeh fired in from the edge of the six-yard box, whipped off his No 4 shirt in double-quick time and slid on to his knees before being mobbed by his teammates and nestled at the bottom of a pile-on. One member of Iran’s backroom team collapsed onto his back on the turf amid the delirium. Another planted a kiss on Khalilzadeh’s forehead before the defender donned a pair of sunglasses given to him by one of the many substitutes who had swiftly emptied on to the pitch.
But the joy was short-lived, Marciniak playing party-pooper after a VAR review showed Khalilzadeh offside after Mostafa Shobeir rushed from his goal to punch clear the free-kick from which Iran thought they had snatched victory. And the late drama did not stop there either. Seventeen seconds after the minimum of six minutes of second-half stoppage time, Yasser Ibrahim made a monumental block to repel Ramin Rezaeian’s shot after the ball squirted free and then six minutes and 53 seconds into added time Iran’s Saeid Ezatolahi sent a header against the crossbar. Shoubir, who was magnificent in the Egypt goal, moved his hands towards the ball but was beaten.
Continue reading…After review,” began the Polish referee Szymon Marciniak, those two words breaking the hearts of Iran after they thought they scrambled an unlikely 93rd-minute winner. Moments earlier, the 37-year-old Shoja Khalilzadeh fired in from the edge of the six-yard box, whipped off his No 4 shirt in double-quick time and slid on to his knees before being mobbed by his teammates and nestled at the bottom of a pile-on. One member of Iran’s backroom team collapsed onto his back on the turf amid the delirium. Another planted a kiss on Khalilzadeh’s forehead before the defender donned a pair of sunglasses given to him by one of the many substitutes who had swiftly emptied on to the pitch.But the joy was short-lived, Marciniak playing party-pooper after a VAR review showed Khalilzadeh offside after Mostafa Shobeir rushed from his goal to punch clear the free-kick from which Iran thought they had snatched victory. And the late drama did not stop there either. Seventeen seconds after the minimum of six minutes of second-half stoppage time, Yasser Ibrahim made a monumental block to repel Ramin Rezaeian’s shot after the ball squirted free and then six minutes and 53 seconds into added time Iran’s Saeid Ezatolahi sent a header against the crossbar. Shoubir, who was magnificent in the Egypt goal, moved his hands towards the ball but was beaten. Continue reading…