Iran Downs Syria in Friendly Match
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Mehdi Taremi fired a hat-trick as Iran football team defeated Syria 5-0 in an international friendly at the Azadi Stadium here on Thursday.
Both teams are preparing for the second round of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup 2023 Joint Qualification which kicks off in September but Iran was in a class of its own as new head coach Marc Wilmots got off to a winning start.
Alireza Jahanbakhsh scored Iran's opening goal in the 30th minute and Taremi doubled Team Melli’s lead just seven minutes later.
Any hope Syria had of a comeback was dashed in the 57th minute as Taremi scored his second of the night for Asia's top-ranked team, who made the semi-finals of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.
Taremi, however, wasn't done as he completed his hat-trick in the 77th minute and Allahyar Sayyadmanesh completed the win with his strike just before the final blow of the referee's whistle.
Iran will play Korea Republic in Seoul on Tuesday.
Syria, meanwhile, will play Uzbekistan in Tashkent on Tuesday.