Gareth Bale’s round of 16 dreams lie with a showdown against England – that shouldn’t be controversial at all.
Bale was missing for what felt like the entirety of the fixture against Iran, only seeming to pop up to add lacklustre touches in an otherwise toothless attack.
By the end of the first half Wales’ star man only had 16 total touches, and by the final whistle he’d increased that number to a measly 36.
The Welshman’s biggest contribution being a soft poke straight toward the Iranian goalkeeper, which ended up being his only shot on target – speaking volumes to the quality of his game.
While the first half was undeniably mundane, it wasn’t without it’s moments.
The first of which being the national anthems as after the Iranians boycotted singing their own amidst mass protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, many were keen to see if they would continue.
But it wasn’t to be – after the players reportedly felt threatened into singing they were seen muttering the words in a rather unceremonious fashion – except for Sardar Azmoun who had been vocal in support for the protests and stayed true to his words by remaining silent.
Wales on the other hand with their usual national pride belted out their anthem with joy as they continued to celebrate their first World Cup finals appearance in 64 years.
The whistle then blew and ushered in some rather boring early events of the game as both teams seemed to be on the hunt for their identity.
Until there was finally a cross into a the box and Kieffer Moore lunged to tap home a goal, but was denied by the Iranian goalkeeper Hossein Hosseini.
The Welsh fans’ cheers for the near chance soon turned to a deafening silence as the striker went down injured, an anxious couple of minutes followed as Moore received treatment before returning to the pitch amidst applause from supporters.
An early threat seemed to kick Iran into gear as they began to press and counter much more efficiently. Glory followed as some great build up play lead to Ali Gholizadeh placing the ball in the back of the net – before VAR ruled he was offside, leading to deafening screams of joy from the Welsh support.
At that point both teams had seemingly found themselves – playing much better – but it was without end product as the half trudged toward a 0-0 finish.
It’s a mystery what was said by Carlos Queiroz during Iran’s team talk but they emerged for the second half playing like Pep Guardiola’s 2009 Barcelona.
Wales on the other hand looked unwilling to truly give the middle eastern side a run for their money and time after time fast breaks led to close chances against them. Soon their woodwork rattled twice in the span of a minute as the aggressors provided an excellent display of free flowing football – but still remained goalless.
Wayne Hennessey displayed an excellent save – straight from the locker of Manuel Neuer – to keep the dream alive. But the hero soon turned villain after the giant darted off his line to deny a break, but rather than clear the ball (his job) he decided to practice martial arts and took down the attacker with a high boot – earning himself a straight red card, once VAR again intervened.
From this point on Wales looked lost – playing a man down – allowing their opponents to continue to build on their good momentum.
At the end of regular time nine total minutes were added on with the Welsh defending for their lives praying for the final whistle to release them from the torture. Time after time Iran moved forward but were repelled – until a poor clearance gave an opening.
Rouzbeh Cheshmi collected the ball and put every bit of power in his right leg into striking the ball straight at the Welsh goal, and milliseconds later the net ruptured – shattering Welsh hearts in the 98th minute.
The players and fans were ecstatic as the goal breathed life into their World Cup campaign. All they had to do was defend for the next couple of minutes – but they did one better.
After Wales attempted to respond they committed too many men forward, gifting an opening to Ramin Rezaeian and company who broke against a two-man defence with Rezaeian providing the final touch to double their lead.
As the referee signalled the end of the game Welsh heads hung in shame – their dreams were all but done – as a final chance against England in their last group game remains. Eyes will still sit on Gareth Bale to see if he can do it, but after that performance those looking upon him won’t be filled with much hope.
