'Bora' Milutinovic - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer Jamaica's Reggae Boyz received a merciless 8-1 pounding at the hands of 49th- ranked Iran as a devastating four-game friendly tour of Asia came to a disheartening end at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran yesterday.
In what could only be described as a gutless display, the Jamaicans, ranked 68th in the world, ended upon the wrong side of one of the nation's worst ever defeats, comparative to the 9-0 defeat by Costa Rica in 1999. The whistle had hardly been sounded by the referee before Jamaica's keeper Dwayne Miller, who was merely a target in the Jamaican goal, was retrieving the ball from the back of his net.
Seconds after the kick-off, the custodian did well to parry a point blank range shot from striker Vahid Hashemian, but could do nothing to stop a close range header from the resulting corner in the second minute. At the back post, a loosely marked Javad Nekounam, who along with Mehrzad Madanchi and substitute Rasoul Khatibi had two goals in the encounter, just could not miss giving Iran the early lead.
It wouldn't take long for Iran, who had a total 15 shots on goal, to extend their lead. With very little pressure Madanchi who sliced and diced his way through a spongy midfield, eventually blasted past Miller from about 25 yards out in the third minute.
Bullet header
A helpless Jamaican backline would find themselves at sea from yet another corner. This time Nekounam tucked the ball away from almost the goal line, in the 18th minute, after a bullet header from an unguarded Hashemian was parried by Miller who, believe it or not, had a solid game in goal. In fact had it not been for the efforts of the custodian who stopped a few point-blank efforts, the Boyz could have lost by a greater margin. Hashemian, once again getting behind a backline that showed no ability to deal with high crosses, put away a header of his own to give Iran an insurmountable 4-0 lead in the 38th minute.
In the second half, horrendous defending would see Madanchi left alone to tap in a close range 49th- minute shot past substitute custodian Richard McCallum who took the bulls eye from Miller at the start of the second half. Then 60th- minute substitute Khatibi would drill a left footed blast into the roof of the net in the 80th for a 6-0 scoreline.
The Jamaicans, who were truly toothless in their attack, taking atotal of four shots on goal for the game, two of which were harmless long-range efforts from Demar Phillips and Fabian Taylor, would pull one back through Taylor in the 84th minute.
Taylor, who was an injury worry ahead of the friendly, headed home beating substitute goal-keeper Mehi Rahmati to the ball from a Fabian Davis corner. Iran would net again in the 88th minute, while Reza Enayati ended the onslaught in time added on for an 8-1 victory.
The fully local-based Boyz who have won only one friendly under new technical d1irector Velibor Milutinovic, lost three of the four games played on the Asian tour, conceding a staggering 13 goals while managing to hit the back of the net only three times.
