Iranian women trounce UAE in football tourney

TEHRAN,Oct.8(MNA)--Iran trounced the United Arab Emirates Thursday night in the 4th West Asian Women’s Football Championship in Abu Dhabi.

In the match held at Sultan bin Zayed Stadium, the Iranian outfit defeated the UAE 4-1 in Group B.

Maryam Rahimi scored for Iran after 10 minutes and Emirati Sabrine Maryam equalized the match 10 minutes later. Niloofar Ardalan doubled Iran’s lead in the 29th minute with a penalty kick. Rahimi scored again in the 80th minute and Sara Ghomi put the ball into back of the net in the injury time.

"Iran scored from the four opportunities they got and we scored one from the 10 chances we had," UAE coach Hassan Ajenoui said. "That made all the difference in otherwise a game I thought was an evenly contested game."

"Iran was much fitter and faster. The first quarter of the match belonged to us, the second quarter to them. We were the better team in the third quarter and Iran was better in the last quarter. That's why I said the game was 50-50 besides the result,” he added.

Iran, who thrashed Lebanon 8-1 in its opening, has been scheduled to play Syria on Sunday.