Lacklustre Iran move into last eight

BUSAN, South Korea, Oct 5 (AFP) - Defending champions Iran clinched their place in the quarter-finals of the Asian Games football tournament on Saturday after drawing 1-1 with Qatar but they were lucky to escape with a point from a lacklustre display.

The draw meant they won Group E and will now face either Kuwait or North Korea for a place in the semi-finals.

Qatar will consider themselves unlucky to have been eliminated after taking the lead, hitting the woodwork and then seeing Iran goalkeeper Ebrahim Mirzapour pull off two fine second half saves to keep his team in the hunt.

The Gulf side made the brighter start and were unfortunate when Wesam Rizik's right foot shot in the 29th minute took a deflection and came off the post.

But they deservedly took the lead three minutes later when defender Ibrahim Al-Ghanim was first to Bilal's Abuhamda's cross to steer the ball past Mirzapour.

In the joy of celebrating their goal, they lost their concentration and two minutes later they failed to clear their lines and Ali Badavi drove the ball home through a pack of defenders.

After the interval, Qatar poured forward as Iran, who started the match with both Ali Daei and Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht, were forced to defend in numbers and they were indebted to Mirzapour.

First, the goalkeeper saved Ahmed Musa's fierce right-foot drive in the 54th minute before he repeated the heroics by keeping out an Abuhamda effort.

In the other match in the group, Afghanistan were handed another mauling when they lost 11-0 to Lebanon.

The defeat was their third in three games in which they conceded 32 goals and failed to score one.