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His full back Carlos Cavarjal was less diplomatic: “That was not football, that was a betrayal,” the Barcelona man said of Iran’s approach.
Try telling that to their fans. 20,000 Iranians filled the Kazan Arena with an astonishing level of support.
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| Diego Costa's strike was the only thing to separate the two sides |
Spain beat Iran 1-0 here in Kazan. But rarely can a victory have been as hard won. Iran were simply magnificent in their collective obduracy.
Rarely can the old coaching
maxim of don’t leave anything on the pitch have been so played out as it
was by this Iran team. Against their elevated opponents, the players of
Iran gave their all, several of them collapsing to the turf on the
final whistle, exhausted by their heroic effort.
“We have three more points,”
said the Spain coach, Fernando Hierro, sounding the most relieved man
west of Vladivostock. “But it was a very tough game, they are very
strong physically.”
His full back Carlos Cavarjal was less diplomatic: “That was not football, that was a betrayal,” the Barcelona man said of Iran’s approach.
Try telling that to their fans. 20,000 Iranians filled the Kazan Arena with an astonishing level of support.
Many of them had come from
Tehran armed with plastic horns. It was like 2010 all over again, the
stadium resounding to the sort of soundtrack we had hoped was consigned
to history after the South Africa World Cup.
But no, this was a bad case
of deja vuvuzela.
And nothing seemed to suppress the noise; even when their goalkeeper caught it the stadium superstructure was in danger.
Yet if there is any team in the world who can be relied upon to dull
the excitement of the opposition supporters it is Spain.
And as the
slick, sophisticated interchanges of Andres Iniesta, David Silva and
Isco began to spin across the turf, it seemed silence would soon
prevail.
But like
their wonderfully stubborn team, these Iranian fans were made of sterner
stuff, refusing to be cowed by Spain enjoying 81 per cent of the first
half possession.
With a huge contingent of women amongst their support,
many enjoying the freedom of dispensing with the strict dress code of
home, they provided a field day for the Russian television director who
likes his cameras to pick out attractive females.
And if it was the destructive virtues they enjoyed, the Iran fans had
much to cheer. Their coach Carlos Queiroz had instructed his team to
harry and chase, to snap and snipe.
For the first 45 minutes, with six
players strung across in a line in front of goalkeeper Ali Beiranvand,
they presented a solid red wall.
When Silva found himself in space in
the Iran box and unleashed a goalbound shot, at least three defenders
launched themselves at the ball, deflecting it away.
This was the
performance of a side determined to give everything for the cause.
And Spain, normally so calm and patient in possession, seemed
initially rattled by the foaming fury of their opponents.
Gerard Pique
who can normally land a ball on a sixpence, spooned a pass out into
touch. Diego Costa found his match in Beiranvand, who, after the Spain’s
Brazilian launched a typically Costa verbal flurry in his direction,
went down as if he had been hit by a sledgehammer.
And even as Iran hit and hoofed, spoiled and sniped, putting together
just 49 passes in the first half, still the horns bellowed.