National Team Friendly

National Stadium
Spectators: 10300 (Terracing: 7725, Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Ali Karimi kicked off to start the match. After 6 played minutes U21 Iran got a freekick which was hit by Soheil Mahdavikia. Parviz Asslibasab made a fantastic save in the 15th minute, when Jagad Shahraj sent off a good shot on target. Kianoosh Tabari fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 18th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Rajendra Dhaliwal having to interfere. Kalila Lanong hit a great freekick 20 minutes into the match. Parviz Asslibasab showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Jitinder Arneja, who was totally free with the ball in the 22nd minute. The audience thought a goal was coming when Chajju Arora got free with Parviz Asslibasab in the 25th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. The audience was convinced that Ali Karimi's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Rajendra Dhaliwal was relentless in the 29th minute of the game. After fighting hard for a draw in the first half, the players were able to take a much needed rest.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Chajju Arora to make the kick off. After a rather tough play, U21 India's Bhadrayu Sethi got a free kick in the 56th minute. U21 India's Rajendra Dhaliwal played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Ali Karimi in the 62nd minute of play. After a rather tough play, U21 Iran's Mahbod Jalaeepour got a free kick in the 63rd minute. Parviz Asslibasab took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Jitinder Arneja, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Soheil Mahdavikia kicked well hit freekick during the 65th minute of the match. 68 minutes into the game, U21 India's Jitinder Arneja nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Parviz Asslibasab made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 2-1. With a little luck, U21 India's Rajendra Dhaliwal got control of the ball when Hüseyin Shamsaei tried to sneak it across the goal line. With an all-out effort, U21 Iran's Rajendra Dhaliwal threw himself towards the right post 78 minutes into the match and grabbed hold of the ball from Behnam Ghasemi, which otherwise would have been placed in the net. In the 82nd minute of the match U21 Iran got a corner. U21 India's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Ali Karimi ran over to the corner to take the kick. After taking down the ball on U21 Iran's corner Behnam Ghasemi fired away a hard shot, but the defenders efficiently covered the most dangerous angles and Rajendra Dhaliwal quite easily take care of the ball. Rajendra Dhaliwal showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Behnam Ghasemi, who was totally free with the ball in the 85th minute. A collision led to U21 India getting a freekick after 86 minutes play. Kalila Lanong hit a great ball. In the 86th minute, Abtin Farnoudi hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. After 89 minutes of play, U21 India's Kalila Lanong made it 3-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Parviz Asslibasab was left in no man's land by his defense there! 93 minutes into the match, Kianoosh Tabari had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Rajendra Dhaliwal. U21 India's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Kianoosh Tabari was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 3-2.