Iran Press/ Iran news: The United States came into the tie seeking to bounce back from their 11-0 opening day defeat to Argentina while IR Iran had started their campaign with a 3-2 win over Serbia.
Two consecutive wins put IR Iran in a strong position to advance to the knockout stage with South American powerhouse Argentina their final Group F opponents on Monday.
Iran, with the likes of Mahdi Javid, Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh, and Farhad Tavakoli leading their attack, looked formidable but the 12-time Asian champions suffered a setback when goalkeeper Samimi was sent off in the second minute.
It didn’t dent IR Iran’s resolve as they overturned a one-goal deficit to lead 3-1 going into the break before holding off a late United States charge to seal the victory.
Iran is competing in its eighth straight Futsal World Cup, more than any other Asian nation. This year, Iran was nominated to participate by the Asian Football Confederation after the original qualifying tournament was canceled.
Iran has dominated in the regional competition, winning the AFC Futsal Championship trophy 12 times before. Iran made history by finishing third at the 2016 World Cup, the best-ever result by an Asian team.
Much of that squad returns in 2021, including Mahdi Javid, Hossein Tayebi, and captain Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh, four-time AFC Futsal Player of the Year.
The US topped Iran in their only meeting, winning the semifinals of the 1992 FIFA Futsal World Cup 4-2 behind a hat trick from Dale Ervine and another from Ted Eck.
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