Iran kept the World Cup semi-finalists to only two goals using a low defensive block which largely achieved what it set out to do.
It is difficult to dissect a match in its entirety when the one memory burned into your brain is the sound of cheers each time Iran’s two medical staff ran onto the field to treat a player.
Exhibit A followed Negin Zandi’s first-half aerial head clash with Clare Polkinghorne. The impact was quite genuine. The pain was probably real. She probably did not relieve the pain by rolling her body a full three rotations in one direction, and then a full three rotations back the other way, and then clutching her head and then remaining face down, kicking one leg into the ground until the referee was forced to stop play and medical staff did their dash.
What we do know is that there was a lot of simulation, that part of it was probably tactical and part of it was more a sign that Iran’s players were simply exhausted trying to contain a nation 52 places higher in the FIFA rankings and with far more high-quality experience under their belts.By the end they were utterly spent, half the squad dropping to the turf as soon as the full-time whistle sounded.
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