Iran routs Kyrgyzstan 6-0 in football friendly match
The national Iranian men's soccer team has thrashed Kyrgyzstan in a warm-up match for the third round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tournament, which is scheduled to start early September.
The Iranian squad, also known as Team Melli, routed the Central Asian side 6-0 in a friendly game staged at Azadi Stadium in western Tehran on Tuesday evening.
The Iranians started the match with vim and vigor, and asserted their dominance from the onset, making it difficult for the Kyrgyz outfit to maneuver.
It was in the sixth minute that Masoud Shojaei opened up the scoring for the hosts from the penalty spot.
Mehdi Taremi took up a marvelous opportunity in the 25th minute, and put the ball at the back of the visitors’ net with a header.
Mehdi Torabi extended Iran’s lead four minutes later, and scored the third goal of the fixture.
Iranian soccer players did not produce any other goal scoring opportunities in the remaining minutes of the first half, and went into the breather with a three-goal lead.
After the break, Iranians did not relinquish superiority and sustained momentum, and Karim Ansarifard was on the target in the 69th minute and made it four for the Islamic Republic. A goal by substitute Sardar Azmoun in the 87th minute took the score to 5-0.
Ansarifard netted a brace and the last goal of the night just before the end of the regular time.
Iran had landed in Group A of the third round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tournament, and is pitted against South Korea, Uzbekistan, China, Qatar and Syria.
Asian powerhouse Japan is drawn in Group B, and has joined Australia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Thailand.
The winner and runner-up of each group (four teams in total) will qualify for the World Cup, while the third-placed teams of each group (two teams in total) will head to the play-off round of the qualifiers.
The winner of the Asian play-off round will then face twice the fourth-placed squad in the fifth round of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) qualifying games.
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