DOHA, Qatar - Iran eliminated Asian Cup favourites Japan in the quarterfinals of the tournament after Alireza Jahanbakhsh’s injury-time penalty delivered a 2-1 victory for Team Melli at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan.
Hajime Moriyasu’s side led through Hidemasa Morita in the first half and appeared poised to advance to the semifinals until Mohammad Mohebi’s 55th-minute equaliser swung the momentum in favour of three-time Asian champions Iran.
Ko Itakura capped off a forgettable outing when he gave away the decisive penalty in the 94th minute, bringing down Iran defender Hossein Kanaani after getting tangled up with center-back partner Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Jahanbakhsh, teammates with Japan striker Ayase Ueda at Dutch powerhouse Feyenoord, sealed the result with a perfectly placed penalty into the top left corner that gave goalkeeper Zion Suzuki no chance.
The result avenged Iran’s 3-0 loss to Japan in the 2019 Asian Cup semifinals in the United Arab Emirates.
Manager Amir Ghalenoei’s men will continue their bid to equal Japan’s record four continental titles with a semifinal against either Uzbekistan or hosts Qatar on Wednesday.
“The players and staff had good preparation for the past two days, and it’s disappointing as manager I couldn’t turn their efforts into a result,” Japan manager Moriyasu said.
Morita opened the scoring in the 28th minute after Ueda laid off to the Sporting Lisbon midfielder, who parted a cluster of defenders and drilled a shot that goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand could only deflect into the net.
