News / Sports

Iran under-23 football team to play friendly match in Turkey

Tuesday, 08 December 2015 2:41 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 09 December 2015 9:40 AM ]

This file photo shows Iran's under-23 national football team, also known as Iran Olympic Team.

Iran’s national under-23 football team is to play a friendly match in neighboring Turkey as a warm-up for the 2016 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship in Qatar early next year.

The Iranian squad, also known as Iran U-23 or Iran Olympic Team, will play against Antalyaspor football club in Antalya at 3:00 p.m. local time (1300 GMT) on Wednesday.

The 2016 AFC U-23 Championship, which will be the 2nd edition of the AFC U-23 Championship, will be held in the Persian Gulf kingdom of Qatar between January 12 and 30. A total of 16 teams will play in the tournament.

The 2016 AFC U-23 Championship will be held in Qatar between January 12 and 30.

The sporting event was renamed from the "AFC U-22 Championship" to the "AFC U-23 Championship."

On October 14, the national Iranian under-23 football team was awarded the 2015 West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) U-23 Championship in Qatar following a thrilling victory over Syria.

The match staged at the Lekhwiya SC Stadium in Doha, Qatar, was a lukewarm encounter for the first half as both teams struggled to create scoring chances.

Iranian soccer players came out strong in the second half, where Alireza Naghizadeh was on target in the 58th minute to strike a fine shot at Syria’s goalpost and open up the scoring.

Iran then held on to their 1-0 lead despite some fightback from Syrian footballers. The Syrians found a golden opportunity in the 79th minute to hold the Persians to a 1-1 draw, though they simply squandered it.

Arsalan Motahari doubled Iran’s lead a minute later, and the national Syrian under-23 football team conceded a 2-0 defeat at last.

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