Iran enjoyed one of the most memorable days in their football history with a 4-0 thrashing of powerhouse Germany in a Group C match of the FIFA U-17 World Cup here on Tuesday.
Younes Delfi (6th, 42nd minutes) struck twice in the first half to stun the Germans while Allahyar Sayyad (49th) and Vahid Namdhari (75th) scored after the break to complete the historic rout.
Iran are now at the top of the group with six points from two matches. They had overpowered Guinea 3-1 in their campaign opener.
The Asian powerhouse have ensured their passage to the knock out stages as even a defeat to Costa Rica in their final group match will see them finish among the top two.
The Iranians enjoyed a superb start as Delfi opened the scoring with a superb finish with just six minutes on the clock. He almost grabbed a second goal on 15 minutes when he struck the crossbar with an audacious free-kick.
Germany will thank their goalkeeper Luca Plogmann for helping them avert further embarrassment with several important saves as Delfi and Allayahr Sayyad ran their defence ragged.
Delfi however, managed to double Iran's lead off a free-kick a short while before the break.
Sayyad found the net just before half-time but his attempt was deemed off-side much to the disappointment of the Iranian teenager.
Sayyad however, was not to be denied after the restart as he met an excellent cross from Delfi with a diving header.
Substitute Vahid Namdari then finished off a fine counter-attacking move with a quarter of an hour remaining to complete an emphatic result for Iran.
--IANS
ajb/bg
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