Following the matches at the AFC U-23 Championship Group A, Iranian footballers met the Qatar at at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Friday with Iran losing to the hosts 1-2.
Ahmed Alaa and Abdelkarim Hassan claimed a goal in each half to secure all three points for Qatari side leaving Iran needing to win their final group game against China on Monday.
Ali Karimi scored on the stroke of full-time for Iran, but it was not enough to deny the Qataris a deserved victory.
Iran's captain Cheshmi, however, saw his attempt from the penalty point saved by Naim, with the goalkeeper diving to his right to push the ball to safety.
Iran had made a strong start to the AFC U-23 Championship Group A with a 2-0 victory over Syria on Tuesday at the same stadium.
However, on Friday’s event, except for the early minutes of the match, Khakpour’s boys could not present a satisfactory performance giving increasing dominance to the home side.
After receiving two goals, Iran’s Motahhari continued to push forward for Iran, twice going close with headers which both failed and Karimi finally found the back of the net for Iran but it was too little too late for Iran.
Iran have not appeared at the Olympic Games since 1976 and AFC Championship marks an attempt to qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
A total of 16 teams are battling for the three places available for Asian sides in Rio in Qatar from January 12 to 30 at four venues.
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