Iran thump Qantas Young Socceroos

The Qantas Young Socceroos let a first-half lead slip as they were emphatically defeated by IR Iran 4-1 in their final group match of the AFF U-19 Tournament in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Qantas Young Socceroos let a first half lead slip as they were emphatically defeated by IR Iran 4-1 in their final group match of the AFF U-19 Tournament in Ho Chi Minh City.

After dominating possession from the opening whistle, the Qantas young Socceroos looked in control of the match as IR Iran sat back and defended in their own half.

Corey Brown opened the scoring for the Qantas Young Socceroos in the 38th minute after David Vrankovic played a great ball to Jason Geria, who collected the ball and charging into the box. Geria then crossed to Brown in the box who easily directed the ball into the goal.

The second half saw a complete role reversal of the teams with IR Iran pressing from the restart and putting pressure on the Qantas Young Socceroos.

IR Iran-s equaliser came in the 51st minute from a free kick by their Captain Bakhsh Jirandeh from the edge of box that bent around the right side of the wall past the unsighted Qantas Young Socceroos goalkeeper Paul Izzo.

A minute later IR Iran took the lead following an error from Connor Chapman who lost the ball coming out from defence. The Iran players swooped and striker Sardar Azmoun made the most of their one-on-one opportunity with Izzo

IR Iran extended their lead in 65th minute after Jesse Makarounas turned over the ball in midfield leaving Chapman to chase down the Iranian forward.

In the tussle for the ball Chapman pulled his opponent down in the box, conceding a penalty in the process and receiving a yellow card. Bakhsh made no mistake from the penalty spot.

Azmoun completed the scoring with three minutes left on the clock when he finished off a cross from Bakhsh.

Qantas young Socceroos head coach Paul Okon was extremely disappointed with his team-s overall performance in the match.

“In the first half we played some good football and scored a very good goal from a great passage of play," Okon said.

“The second half was a disaster. Physically we couldn-t compete with Iran and we conceded three goals in 14 mins from individual mistakes."

In the other match, Uzbekistan defeated Vietnam 4-0 to book themselves a place in the final against IR Iran.

The Qantas Young Socceroos will now face host nation Vietnam in the 3rd/4th play-off match of the tournament on Saturday.

Match Details Qantas Young Socceroos 1 IR Iran 4 Thong Nhat Stadium, Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Thursday 6 September 2012

Qantas Young Socceroos line-up: Paul Izzo (gk), Jason Geria,, Connor Chapman, (Hayden Morton 82-), Corey Brown, Reece Caira, Ryan Edwards, Terry Antonis, Adam Taggart, Jake Barker-Daish (Jesse Makarounas 61 mins), Mitch Cooper (Luke O-Dea 73-), David Vrankovic

Substitutes Not Used: Nick Munro (gk), Daniel Petkovski, Ben Garuccio, Riley Woodcock, Hagi Gligor, Brandon O-Neill

Yellow Cards: Connor Chapman 65-, Reece Caira 68-, Corey Brown 90-