China lost to Iran 8-7 in penalty shoot-out after the two sides
drew 2-2 after extra time, in a men's soccer quarter-final at the
Doha Asian Games on Saturday.
Both China and Iran sent two attackers in a bid to score
first, but the two sides played a dull and physical game during
most part of the first half.
Iran broke the deadlock in the 39th minute. Borhani Arash got
the ball from a long through cross, broke through Chinese defense
and scored after bypassing Chinese goalkeeper Wang Dalei.
But before he sent the ball into net, Arash stopped the ball on
the line, gesturing for his teammates to come up, which is a very
humiliating act. Unfortunately, referee Alghafary Naser from
Jordan, who had a clear view of all this, did nothing at all.
After the break, China quickly equalized when defender Feng
Xiaoting shot the ball into the net in the 51st minute. But China
was dealt a blow when their forward Zhu Ting received a red card
for a tackle in the 62nd minute.
But China played more actively after the expulsion and gained
slight upper hand with 10 men. Both China and Iran failed to score
again during the second half and the two sides went to extra
time.
Though Iran gained a huge advantage during extra time, but
China's Zhou Haibin gave China 2-1 lead with a beautiful goal in
the 98th minute. Iran equalized in the 106th minute with a goal
from Khoshkebejari Seyed Jalal.
After the 120-minute game, the two sides went to penalty. After
Zhao Ming failed to score, China lost 7-8 to Iran.
(Xinhua News Agency December 10, 2006)