Unbeaten Giants Ready for AFC Asian Cup Semifinal
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran and Japan national football teams, as two AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 unbeaten giants, will lock horn in the competition’s semi-final on Monday.
The major team news ahead of the match is the enforced absence of Mehdi Taremi, who will miss Monday's clash through suspension having collected a second yellow card against China.
While card trouble has cost Team Melli the Al Gharafa star, who has scored three goals in UAE 2019, the Iranians will welcome back Vahid Amiri, while Yoshinuri Muto returns from suspension for Japan.
Carlos Queiroz's Iran has become one of only three teams in history to go through its first five games at an AFC Asian Cup without conceding a goal, but the amazing record of goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand goes back even further.
The Persepolis shot-stopper has represented his country in 20 competitive matches (including UAE 2019 and FIFA World Cup qualifiers and finals) and conceded only four goals, keeping a remarkable 17 clean sheets, with only Portugal, Spain and Syria finding a way past him.
Japan has claimed a piece of statistical history of its own in the UAE. Hajime Moriyasu's side is the first ever to win five successive matches by a single-goal winning margin.
The two sides are both Asian football powerhouses, having qualified for the past two FIFA World Cups - and in Japan's case, every edition since 1998 - but the East Asian has had far more recent success on the continental stage.
While Iran is enjoying the excitement of being 90 minutes away from reaching the AFC Asian Cup final for the first time since 1976, Japan has been champion in four of the last seven editions, and three of the current squad are part of the victorious 2011 team.
Japan has only ever lost once at this stage of the competition, a 3-2 defeat to Saudi Arabia in 2007, which was also the last time the Samurai Blue lost any AFC Asian Cup match outside of penalty shootouts.
Despite making its first appearance in the last four since 2004, Iran has not a lost a single AFC Asian Cup match inside 90 minutes this century, with three of their previous eliminations coming from the penalty spot, and the other two - both defeats to Korea Republic - suffered in extra time.
