England-Iran 6-2 Goals from Bellingham, Sterling, brace from Saka, Rashford, Grealish and brace from Taremi

From our correspondent GB Olivero

November 21st
– AL RAYYAN (QATAR)

Easy victory for England in their world debut against Iran: six goals (two) and total control of the situation, also due to the enormous level difference. In the final part of the first half, Southgate’s team made the superiority concrete by scoring three goals and then limited themselves to managing without forcing and exploiting the spaces. Six goals and not even one from Kane: England have many weapons and yesterday they showed some of them. The captain did not wear the rainbow armband against discrimination: Fifa had threatened sanctions. And Iran’s players didn’t sing the anthem in protest against their country’s regime: this World Cup won’t be just about football.

FIRST HALF

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At the start the pace remains very low. Iran closes with a 5-4-1 which in Queiroz’s mind should block the flanks but also remove penetration between the lines. However, Beiranvand’s serious injury slowed down the English: the Iran goalkeeper collided with Majid Hosseini to deflect a dangerous cross from Kane and broke his nose. Beiranvand was treated on the pitch, tried to come back, but after a 12-minute break (with the exception of a few seconds of play to allow him to prove his condition) the goalkeeper had to give up and was replaced by Hossein Hosseini. The match practically starts here and England, without overdoing it or accelerating noticeably, takes control gradually suffocating the opponents. Shaw on the left pushes a lot taking advantage of Sterling’s movement and in the 35th minute a cross from the United full-back generates the Bellingham goal: the Borussia Dortmund midfielder’s gap is perfect. As often happens in this type of match, the first goal settles the whole issue. And in fact within nine minutes the English scored twice more. In the 44th minute Saka exploits a tower by Maguire (who had hit the crossbar at 0-0) and doubles with his left foot. And in the 46th minute Sterling volleyed a cross from the right by Kane into goal. The fourteen-minute added time offered only a chance for Jahanbakhsh, who wasted on a volley from Hajifasi’s tempting cross.

SECOND HALF

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The second half serves England as competitive training. In these cases the most motivated are the attackers, who aim for personal glory without having to worry about the result that has already been achieved. In the 17th minute, Saka scored a brace with his left foot, receiving from Sterling and taking aim without any opposition. Iran had a flicker three minutes later thanks to their best player: Taremi, the Porto striker, scored under the crossbar past Maguire from Gholizadeh’s through ball. Southgate completely changes the attack inserting Foden, Rashford and Grealish in place of Mount, Saka and Sterling and a few minutes later also Wilson in place of Kane. It takes Rashford about thirty seconds to score his fifth goal, then Grealish takes advantage of an assist from Wilson into an empty net and in the 58th minute (14′ added time in the first half, 13′ in the second half: stuff from the Guinness Book of Records) Taremi converts the penalty of the definitive 6-2. Fun fact: Iran made six substitutions, as the goalkeeper’s substitution didn’t count under the rule that allows you to substitute a player suspected of having a concussion.