The second day of Quarterfinal Action began with a border war as
Iran, the top ranking team in Asia, battled Iraq, the scrappy underdog
in this matchup. Sardar Azmoun's 24th minute goal put Iran up first, and
the stadium exploded with cheers. The intensity would heat up when
Iraqi keeper Jalal Hassan would scoop up the ball. Iran's leftback
Mehrdad Pooladi would stick his foot in to try and knock the ball away.
Jalal was having none of it, and got up shoving Pooladi lightly. Mehrdad
fell to the ground clutching his face, but the referee was front and
center to the action. He showed Mehrdad a yellow card, which was
troubling because he already had one. This meant that Iran were now done
to 10 men. Let's jump to the second half where Ahmed Yasin would strike
for Iraq tying the game in the 56th minute. But the man advantage would
do little to help Iraq score again in regulation, and it also tired out
their Iranian counterparts who had to make up for the missing man. The
deadlock would break in the 93rd minute when Younus Mahmood would head
home a shot deflected by Iran's keeper Alireza Haghigi. Iran would fight
back, utilizing a corner kick in the 103rd minute when Morteza
Pouragilanji would head the ball in. The second half of extra time would
start with Iraq's Yaser Kasim being brought to ground inside the
keeper's box at the 116th minute mark. Dhurgam Ismail would step up and
shoot right beating Haghigi's dive to the left. Iraq would take their
second lead at 3:2 with time expiring and a man advantage. But Iran
would not lie down and die. A corner kick would again be their savior as
the first shot would be saved off the line leading to a second attempt
that would hit the crossbar and bounce back out to Reza Ghoochannejhad
who make it 3:3. Time would run out, and the dreaded penalty shootout
would await.
Iran would shoot first as Ehsan Hajsafi
would step up to shoot. The pressure would get to him, as his attempt
would go sailing over the crossbar. This would lead to Saad Abdulameer
would take his crack for Iraq. Saad would aim low to the left, but would
kick it well wide of goal. 0:0 after the first round.
Morteza
Pouragilanji would step up next for Iran. He would strike up to the
left, and beat a keeper, Jalal, diving in the opposite direction. Waleed
Salim would try to tie the shootout for Iraq. He would shoot to the
keeper's right, the keeper would dive left, and after two rounds it was
tied 1:1.
Iran's captain Javad Nekounam would be a
diving keeper by shooting over him for the goal. Iraq would counter with
Dhurgam Ismail who would score for the second time in this game from
the penalty spot, shooting the same as he did in extra time and scoring.
2:2 after 3 rounds.
Iran's Seyed Jalal Hosseini would
score with a powerful shot giving them the momentary advantage. Iraq's
Ali Adnan would sneak a goal in hitting just under the crossbar. After 4
rounds, 3:3.
The
5th and final regular round start with Iran's Vouria Ghafouri placing
the ball coolly past Jalal. Alireza Haghigi would step up with an
opportunity to win the match for Iran with a save. His opponent would be
Younus Mahmood who would chip a cheeky shot to the left of goal that
would fall calmly in. 4:4 after 5 rounds, and everything from here on
out would be sudden death.
Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Yaser Kasim would trade goals making it 5:5.
Andranik Teymourian and Marwan Hussein would also trade goals making it 6:6.
Vahid
Amiri would strike right but see the ball bounce off the post. This
left Salam Shakir an opportunity to be Iraq's hero. His strike to the
left of goal would beat Haghigi who dove the wrong way. Game over, Iraq
7:6 on penalty kicks.
Iran 3(6):3(7) Iraq
Scriptor: Iran 1:0 Jordan
IoannesNix: Iran 1:0 Jordan
Artifex: Qatar 3:0 Palestine
Quaesitor: Bahrain 1:3 Palestine
Praeceptor: Qatar 2:3 Iraq
Not to be outdone, Quarterfinal 4 pitted defending champions Japan against the United Arab Emirates. Ali Mabkhout would open the scoring in the 7th minute giving UAE an unlikely lead. One fan held a sign that read "Why would you drive a Honda when you can fly Emirates". This is easily, the sign of the whole damn tournament. Gaku Shibasaki would level the game in the 81st minute giving Japan a brief sigh of relief as their tournament was not fully over. Extra time would not separate the two teams, and another penalty shootout was to go down.
Keisuke Honda would blast his shot into the stratosphere. Omar Abdulrahman would chip his shot past the keeper putting the Emirates up 1:0 after one round.
Japan's captain Makoto Hasebe would beat the keeper. Ali Mabkhout would also score making it 2:1 Emirates after 2 rounds.
Gaku Shibasaki would give Japan life as he would score his penalty kick. Khamis Esmaeel would kick the ball over the goal leaving the score 2:2 after 3 rounds.
Yohei Toyoda would convert his spot kick making it 3:2 for Japan. Majed Hassan would strike his shot as well, tying it at 3:3 after 4 rounds.
Masato Morishige would calmly score his take leaving the game in the hands of Habib Al Hardan who would keep this game going with a goal. 4:4 after 5 rounds. On to sudden death.
Shinji Kagawa's strike would hit the left post. The match's end would come down to a battle between Japanese keeper Eiji Kawashima and Ismail Ahmed. A strike to the keepers left would give the Emirates a spot in the semi-finals.
Japan 1(4):
1(5) United Arab Emirates
Scriptor: Japan 2:1 Qatar
IoannesNix: Japan 2:1 Qatar
Artifex: Japan 4:1 Iran
Quaesitor: Jordan 2:3 Qatar
Praeceptor: Jordan 2:1 Iran
Retroactively, for giving all the proper information as to the Super Bowl, who won, the score, and additionally the halftime performer, Praeceptor has been given day 12's Bonus Bonanza point.
Day 14's Bonus Bonanza points was tough. Though Quaesitor's answer is good, Artifex's is pretty much the truth. She gets the bonus point.
Praeceptor is the only contestant to make any gains today. She picked Iraq into the semifinals and wins 2 points.
STANDINGS:
30/8
25/9
21/6
18/6
YC
13/5
YC
It was a long day. This was a long post. Rest up. Four matches left to crown a champion. Fear not, off days still have Bonus Bonanza Points!!!!
The Grand Salmon Alpaca
