Witnessing Iran defeating Vietnam in the early match, Coach Katanec put on the field the best team with the goal of winning all 3 points against Yemen. With a comfortable mentality, the Iraq players were not too hasty when the opening whistle blew.
Iraq, with the intention of quickly destroying the country, flooded up to attack right after the opening whistle. They quickly concretized the encroachment of the game with the opening goal in the 11th minute. Mohanad Ali Kadhim was the author of a solo run through four players before launching a shot into the Yemen net.
8 minutes later, Bashar Resan comfortably stared at the edge before firing a shot from outside the penalty area, the ball hit the foot of a Yemen defender and changed direction, leaving goalkeeper Al Sowadi hopelessly able to fly.
The two goals too early helped Iraq play extremely comfortably and comfortably in the remainder of the match. Katanec's students also proactively slowed down and played slowly to preserve their strength to fight for the long road ahead.
Yemen proved too weak in both defense and attack, they only had 6 shots towards the opponent's goal in the whole match and most of them were not dangerous. They could not create clear attacks because the Iranian midfield had blocked most of their attacks. As Coach Kocian stated before the tournament, his team was too weak compared to the 3 teams in Group D.
Iraq played leisurely in the second half but still scored 1 more goal. In the 90th minute, the player came on as a substitute for Alaa Abbas to shine with a goal to seal a 3-0 victory for Iraq after Ahmed Yasin's delicate head assist.
With this result, Iran and Iraq are the first two representatives of Group D to participate in the 2019 Asian Cup knockout round. If the Vietnamese team defeats Yemen by 3 goals in the final match, they will have the opportunity to compete for a ticket to the next round as one of the 3rd-placed teams with the best results. With their strength, Yemen will likely leave the Asian Cup without being able to gain points, or even score any goals.
