Drama-laden draw leaves Iran in limbo as Egypt set up last-32 clash with Australia
“After review,” began the Polish referee Szymon Marciniak, those two words breaking the hearts of Iran after they thought they scrambled an unlikely 93rd-minute winner. Moments earlier, the 37-year-old Shoja Khalilzadeh fired in from the edge of the six-yard box, whipped off his No 4 shirt in double-quick time and slid on to his knees before being mobbed by his teammates and nestled at the bottom of a pile-on. One member of Iran’s backroom team collapsed onto his back on the turf amid the delirium. Another planted a kiss on Khalilzadeh’s forehead before the defender donned a pair of sunglasses given to him by one of the many substitutes who had swiftly emptied on to the pitch.
But the joy was short-lived, Marciniak playing party-pooper after a VAR review showed Khalilzadeh offside after Mostafa Shobeir rushed from his goal to punch clear the free-kick from which Iran thought they had snatched victory. And the late drama did not stop there either. Seventeen seconds after the minimum of six minutes of second-half stoppage time, Yasser Ibrahim made a monumental block to repel Ramin Rezaeian’s shot after the ball squirted free and then six minutes and 53 seconds into added time Iran’s Saeid Ezatolahi sent a header against the crossbar. Shoubir, who was magnificent in the Egypt goal, moved his hands towards the ball but was beaten.
