Ten-man Belgium were left frustrated after being held to a 0-0 draw by a determined Iran in their World Cup Group G clash in Los Angeles on Sunday, failing to find a way past the stubborn Iranian defense.
Belgium's hopes were dealt a blow in the 66th minute when defender Nathan Ngoy was shown a straight red card for bringing down Mehdi Taremi after the Iranian forward had intercepted the defender's mishit attempted pass and was through on goal.
Yet despite their numerical advantage, Iran struggled to capitalize, creating little as the Belgians launched a series of attacks and cranked up the pressure in the final minutes.
Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand repeatedly saved his side with crucial interventions, including an extraordinary stop to keep out a point-blank-range effort from Maxim De Cuyper in the second half.
Iran have two points and will next face Egypt in Seattle on Friday while Belgium, also on two points, take on New Zealand in Vancouver with all still to play for in the group.
Belgium dominated the first half but created few clear opportunities, their attacks failing in front of goal.
The opening exchanges set a physical tone when Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku was yellow-carded three minutes in for a lunging attempt at a ball in front of goal that put Beiranvand on the grass for minutes.
IRAN GOAL DISALLOWED
Iran found the net just before the first-half hydration break when a free kick allowed Ehsan Hajisafi to make a clever pass through the wall to Taremi, who scored but was ruled offside following a VAR check.
Belgium coach Rudi Garcia had said on Saturday that Lukaku needed his playing time managed, but started with the striker against Iran and kept him on the pitch until the 74th minute.
Lukaku said the match was a disappointment for Belgium.
"We have to analyze what went wrong, because we created so many chances without scoring, and that's frustrating," said Lukaku. "We play with too much emotion in key moments."
Iran's team have been forced to stay outside the US between matches due to extraordinary measures by the American government, which has also banned a number of Iran team staff and officials.
The atmosphere was charged, with Iran's team receiving loud cheers before the match and chants of "I-ran, I-ran" throughout from vocal supporters who outnumbered Belgium fans in the more than 70,000-seat stadium.
The exuberant Iran crowd delighted Beiranvand, who was named the player of the match.
"I kiss the hands of every single Iranian who was here in the stadium today, every one of them. All the Iranians who supported us today. There were moments when everyone was chanting, calling out the name of Iran," said Beiranvand.
While there were small protests outside the stadium and pre-revolutionary flags being flown and worn both outside and inside, the pre-match political intensity was muted compared to their opener, which coincided with the announcement of a US-Iran peace agreement.
Iran's coach, Amir Ghalenoei, was pleased with the commitment his players showed, facing some of the world's outstanding football talents.
"The conditions have been very hard for us," he said. "They are playing with their hearts."
Belgium's coach, Rudi Garcia, was forgiving about Ngoy's red card, which hit his team's hopes of victory.
"He's young. He made a mistake," said Garcia.
