By our in Turkey
IRAN sent out a massive World Cup warning last night by brushing aside a rocky first half to utterly smash Gambia 3-1.
The Persians proved they are ready to rock the upcoming tournament in North America—even if their off-pitch travel plans are currently a total mess. Team Melli have been forced to pitch up camp in Mexico while they sweat over delayed US visas due to Middle East tensions.
But out on the pitch in sunny Antalya, it was Gambia causing the early geopolitical tremors.
The African underdogs tore up the script just before the break.
In the 42nd minute, Ebrima Colley skinned two Iranian defenders on the byline and whipped a lethal ball across the box. Up popped Scorpions skipper Omar Colley to smash it home from six yards out, leaving Iran keeper Alireza Beiranvand completely stranded.
THE MATCH AT A GLANCE
* The Goals: O. Colley (42’) | Yousefi (47’), Rezaeian (58’), Taremi (69’)
The Venue: Mardan Stadyumu, Antalya (Behind Closed Doors)
Up Next: Iran face Mali on Thursday before their World Cup opener vs New Zealand on June 16.
Whatever was said in the Iranian dressing room at half-time clearly worked wonders, because they came out like men possessed. It took just two minutes of the second half for Arya Yousefi to peg Gambia back, sliding home a neat equalizer in the 47th minute to spark the comeback.
From then on, it was total one-way traffic.
Gambia’s defense completely crumbled under the relentless pressure. In the 58th minute, substitute Ramin Rezaeian turned the game right on its head, rifling Iran into a 2-1 lead and sending the bench wild.
And the gloss was applied with twenty minutes left on the clock.
Inter Milan-bound talisman Mehdi Taremi latched onto a brilliant, cushioned pass from Ali Alipour. The superstar forward took one look up and drilled a low, hard strike across the keeper, rattling the left post before bulging the back of the net.
Gambia threw everything forward late on, but Iran comfortably shut the shop to seal a massive morale-boosting victory ahead of next week’s final warm-up clash against Mali.
Iran showed true grit to overcome a bad start. If they can sort out their passport issues, they look more than capable of causing a few upsets in Group G against Belgium, Egypt, and New Zealand.