Morocco's goalkeeper Monir El Kajoui (1st R) defends as Iran's Sardar Azmoun shoots (L front) during a group B match between Morocco and Iran at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 15, 2018. (Xinhua/Lu Jinbo)
SAINT PETERSBURG, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Iran won the second victory in its World Cup history here on Friday evening in a dramatic way, after Moroccan substitute Aziz Bouhaddouz headed the ball into his own net.
In what seemed to be one of only a few decent deliveries just one minute before conclusion of the match, Iran's Ehsan Haji Safi curled a last-moment free-kick, only to be met by the Moroccan forward, who dashed across to send the ball right into the gate.
That dreadful mistake, to the astonishment of more than 62,500 audiences in Saint Petersburg Stadium, put a seal on the first match in Group B, as well as Morocco's unbeaten record of 18 games.
The 1-0 victory also sent Iran, which reached consecutive World Cups only for first time, one step closer to the knockout stage that they had never been to before.
In the two team's first encounter on the World Cup stage, the Atlas Lions enjoyed a comfortable start, dominating the pitch and controlling the tempo, while Iranian goalkeeper Ali Beiranvand impressed spectators with his heroic saves amid scramble.
Iran, on the other hand, gradually got better after the first 20 minutes. The best chance for them came several minutes before the break, when Sardar Azmoun fired close to scoring after dribbling past defenders.
The second half saw numerous stoppages of injuries and bickers.
A highlight came on the 79th minute, when Moroccan midfielder Hakim Ziyach received the ball from Younes Belhanda and hit a stinging effort. But Beiranvand was brisk enough to catch it.
Should there be no such mistake as the own goal, the result would be reminiscent of the only match between Iran and Morocco in history, which ended up in a draw.
Morocco, who have waited for 20 years to be qualified for the World Cup again, will be facing a grim situation, against the reigning European champion Portugal and 2010 World Cup winner Spain in the next two group matches.
"Of course I am very disappointed," said Morocco's head coach Herve Renard, who noted that he would be disappointed even if the game had finished with a draw.
"We have had a lot of opportunities," said the 49-year-old French former footballer, adding that they would focus on the next match.
Carlos Queiroz, who is the first coach in Iran to take the team to the World Cup twice, knelt down to celebrate the goal at the match.
"I learned a lesson in my life that superman is only in cartoons. Nobody is superman. What can happen is a group of people when we work together, we can create super things. This is exactly what happened today," he said at the post-game press conference.
The goal came so late that even the Portuguese seemed to have considered accepting a draw.
"When the draw comes, we had two options: we change our goal because the group is so difficult, or we keep the same hope and to play and fight for a chance to win the second round. It is an impossible mission, but our attitude is to make the impossible possible," he said.
He said he had been telling the players that they need to play with a sense of loyalty to the fans, with respect for their opponents and with humble attitude knowing that they have limitations.
"If we need to defend in 90 minutes...if we have one minute or one second of chance, we only play with one thing in the mind: try to win the game," he added.
Iran will play Spain on Wednesday while Morocco will be facing Portugal.
