Iran Press/ Europe: Iran won against New Zealand in a thrilling game 17:14 (5:2, 4:2, 3:6, 5:4) and is still in the running for places in the finals.
The Iranians went full throttle from the start, leading 5-0 after just a few minutes before New Zealand also scored twice.
Iran’s goalkeeper Shayan Ghasemidaryan shone with several powerful saves in the first half. The Iranians continued to draw on their early lead and accordingly went into the half-time break with a seemingly comfortable 9:4 lead.
After the break, however, the New Zealanders turned up the heat. Now it was Oceania goalkeeper Matthew Taylor who saved the ball in spades – while his team-mates, who now had much better shooting rates, reduced the gap to just 10:12. It was a dramatic final quarter.
New Zealand actually equalized with their best man Keegan Wicken (four goals), but Iran countered with their top scorer Soheil Rostamian (five goals). In the final minutes, the Iranians came out victorious, and the New Zealanders’ drive to catch up went unrewarded.
“New Zealand has good, physically strong players, but we were tactically good, I’m very happy that we won,” said Rostamian, who was voted player of the match.
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