European U-17 champs exhibit sweet, free-flowing football to beat Iran 3-1
European champions produced a quality exhibition of tiki-taka as they decimated Iran 3-1 to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA U-17 World Cup here yesterday. Spain, one of the pre-tournament favourites, completely dominated the quarter-final match as their one-touch passing game proved to be too good for the Asian giants, who were completely outplayed on the day. Captain Abel Ruiz gave Spain the lead in the 13th minute before Sergio Gomez (60th) and Ferran Torres (67th) added a goal each.
Spain's Abel Ruiz (right) is congratulated by teammates for scoring v Iran in the FIFA U-17 World Cup quarter-final at Kochi yesterday. Pic/AFP
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For Iran, Saeid Karimi pulled one back in the 69th minute at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Spain, seeking their maiden title, now meet African champions Mali in Navi Mumbai in the second semi-finals on October 25. This will be Spain's sixth appearance in the semi-finals in ninth attempt. The La Rojita were runners-up in 1991, 2003 and 2007 and finished third in 1997 and 2009. Spain were the overwhelmingly dominant side today with nearly 70 percent possession. They had seven shots on target while Iran barely had any clear chance except for one in the closing stages of the match. But for some fine saves by their goalkeeper Ali Gholam Zadeh, Iran would have lost by a bigger margin.
Valencia youth team winger Ferran Torres, who has been on the radar of Barcelona and Real Madrid, created a lot of problems for Iran throughout the match with his speedy runs and crosses from the right flank. It was a completely different and unusually defensive Iran as they did not look like a side, who had not lost any match before this defeat. They sorely missed suspended striker Younes Delfi who had scored twice in Iran shock upset of formidable Germany in the group stage.
Six No. of times Spain have reached the semi-finals of the FIFAâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088U-17 World Cup in nine attempts
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