Bosnia beat Iran 3-1 in their last match in this world cup to finish in the third place in group E. Iran went winless in the tournament in spite of putting up a great fight against Argentina in the second match. Against Bosnia their story did not change much as they failed to capitalize on the opportunities they got over the 90 minutes.
Bosnia was already out of the tournament before the match had started since they had lost their previous two encounters but were looking to salvage bit of pride before leaving. The match started with both teams matching evenly. But it was Bosnia, who struck first in the 23rd, thanks to Edin Dzeko’s whelping shot that found its place over the goalline beating Haghighi, who was leading at the end of the first 45 minutes. Iran also had their moments as they tested the Bosnian keeper for more than one occasions. But he was up to the task and protected the lead provided by Dzeko with great responsibility.
Iran needed to win to go through to the next round and having gone down by 1 goal; they had to score twice to make it to the knock-outs. But it was Bosnia who scored. Pjanic scored in the 59th minute to make it even more difficult for the Asian side. Iran pressed forward but they did not look like scoring as Bosnian defenders and midfielders closed them down before they could pose a threat. Finally Iran got one, in the 82nd minute but perhaps it was too little too late as they needed to score 2 more in 8 minutes plus added time. Iran went forward with too much gusto and Bosnia took the advantage to finish it off in the counter attack. Vrasejic made it 3-1 in the 83rd minute and Iran was out of any contention of making a miraculous comeback.
Bosnia’s consolation victory enabled them to finish ahead of Iran in the group as Nigeria and went through to the next round even after losing to Argentina. Argentina was already into the next round as had beaten both Bosnia and Iran in first two matches. both Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran failed to qualify but they have done a lot to be remembered not just as the participants but as teams with great talent, may be in need of a bit polishing.
Tags: Bosnia beat Iran FIFA world cup 2014
