Iran beat Thailand 2-1 in Hue City’s Tu Do Stadium and was crowned as the Vietnamese cup champs.
Thailand’s players started confidently and kept close to the Iranian players, making things very difficult for the young players from the Persian Gulf. The first half went scoreless.
Just five minutes into the second half, Iran received a shocking blow as Thai striker Ekkachai took a good pass from captain Suphaphorn to defeat Iran’s goalkeeper.
Iran fought back more fiercely and had the equalizer 10 minutes later. Mohsen Mosalman leveled the match from the penalty spot. However, things became extremely hard for Iran in the 69th minute when Reza Esfehani was sent off.
It came as a surprise when Iran took the lead after striker Jalal Alimohammadi scored the second goal for Iran in the 75th minute even as their 10 players labored under the constant pressure from Thailand.
In the fight earlier for the third place, Vietnam beat Singapore 1-0.
Iran is preparing for AFC U-19 Championship to be held in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, from October 31.
A cash prize of US$10,000 was awarded to the Iranian team.
MH/MRK
END
MNA
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