Bosnia 3
Dzeko 23, Pjanic 59; Vrsajevic 83;
Iran 1
Ghoochannejhad 82;
Bosnia beat Iran 3-1 in their Group F finale yesterday to record their first World Cup win and deny the West Asians any chance of reaching the knockout stage.
Already eliminated after two successive losses, Bosnia, appearing at a major tournament for the first time as an independent nation, went ahead in the 23rd minute through Edin Dzeko.
Bosnia doubled their lead just before the hour through Miralem Pjanic’s cool finish before Reza Ghoochannejhad pulled a goal back for Iran in the 82nd minute.
Avdija Vrsajevic restored Bosnia’s two-goal cushion with a fine strike a minute later.
Iran had required all three points and needed Argentina to beat Nigeria to have any shot of grabbing a surprise place in the last 16.
Bosnia opted to ditch a cautious 4-5-1 set-up in favour of the attack-minded 4-4-2 that brought them 30 goals in qualifying, restoring Vedad Ibisevic up front alongside Dzeko.
The result was a more controlled performance, the Bosnians bossing most of the first half and taking the lead when Dzeko dropped deep into space to collect a pass before travelling to fire in low off the post from just outside the box.
Iran almost got level seconds after the restart when Masoud Shojaei struck the crossbar with a deft chip.
In a scrappier second half, Bosnia scored a second when Dzeko picked up a loose ball that allowed Tino Sven Susic to slide in Pjanic for a tidy finish.
Despite the roars of support the dogged defensive qualities that have won Iran plaudits in Brazil suddenly looked a little ragged and they struggled to reproduce the swift attacks that had worried twice champions Argentina in their last game.
Ghoochannejhad provided a moment of cheer when he ensured Iran would avoid being the only team not to score in Brazil, scoring from close range after Bosnia failed to clear their lines quickly enough.
The cheers were short lived though as Vrsajevic’s marauding run saw him played in to thunder a third home off the far post, earning Bosnia their first win over Iran in six attempts.
Queiroz quits
Later in the evening, Iran coach Carlos Queiroz confirmed his decision to step down.
“I didn’t receive any single concrete or attractive proposal to stay on over the last 11 months,” he told reporters.
“I fell in love with them (the players). But you can’t have a marriage when only one person wants to stay married.”
Bosnia: 1-Asmir Begovic; 2-Avdija Vrsajevic, 4-Emir Spahic, 5-Sead Kolasinac, 15-Toni Sunjic; 14-Tino Sven Susic (79 23-Sejad Salihovic), 7-Muhamed Besic, 8-Miralem Pjanic, 21-Anel Hadzic (61 6-Ognjen Vranjes); 11-Edin Dzeko (85 19-Edin Visca), 9-Vedad Ibisevic.
Iran: 12-Alireza Haghighi; 15-Pejman Montazeri; 4-Jalal Hosseini; 5-Amir Sadeghi; 23-Mehrdad Pooladi; 3-Ehsan Hajsafi (63 9-Ali Reza Jahanbakhsh); 6-Javad Nekounam; 14-Andranik Teymourian; 21-Ashkan Dejagah (68 10-Karim Ansarifard); 16-Reza Ghoochan-nejhad; 7-Masoud Shojaei (46 2-Khosro Heydari).
Referee: Carlos Velasco (Spain).