Turkey down Iran 2-1 in pre-World Cup friendly

The Iranian team, Spain's opponents in the World Cup in Russia, suffered their first defeat on their way to the tournament, losing 1-2 to Turkey in a friendly match here

Turkey's striker Cenk Tosun, who plays for Everton in England, took the opportunity to score in the sixth minute of the game after a quality pass from Mehmet Topal, reposrt Efe.

A setback that did not frighten the Iranians, who not only gradually gained control of the ball, but also had two good chances midway through the first half to level the playing field.

But neither striker Alireza Jahanbakhsh, the top scorer in the Dutch league with 21 goals, nor midfielder Ehsan Haji Safi, who plays for Greece's Olympiacos, was on target.

Cenk Tosun, on the other hand, was the winner of the game in Turkey's favor after scoring the 2-0 after five minutes in the second half with an accurate shot from outside the box.

A scoreboard that together with the many changes made by Turkey's coach, the Romanian Mircea Lucescu, seemed to put the Turkish national team at ease for good.

Iran scored the last goal, from Ashkan Dejagah, in extension time, when he converted a penalty on Turkey's Omer Bayram, who cleared the ball with his hand on the goal line, which cost the local player the red card.

Iran, who beat Uzbekistan 1-0 last week, will try to make up for their defeat in their next friendly against Lithuania in Moscow on June 8.

--IANS

kk/vm