Bosnia and Herzegovina's tournament came to an end as they failed to overcome a very physical Nigeria side in their second game in the World Cup. Iran will thus go into this match with something to play for while Bosnia will only have their pride to think about.
In truth, much more was expected from a Bosnia side qualifying for their first World Cup. Good players fill up the eleven places; an emotional qualifying campaign showed their quality. Against Argentina, they played very well but were undone by an own goal and a superb effort from Lionel Messi. Against Nigeria, officiating unfortunately played a hand.
Edin Dzeko's goal was disallowed due to one of the worst offside calls in recent history. There was a foul in the build up to Nigeria's goal which the referee should have given. With the whistle between his lips, he waited for the linesman to make the decision. The linesman was indecisive. Bosnian players felt the referee was about to blow the whistle and were thus furious when the goal was allowed.
The Europeans became more and more frustrated as the match went on. They did not click well with each other and the performance was rather poor compared to their performance in the Group D opener against Argentina. Dzeko was wasteful as was the substitute Vedad Ibisevic. Both were rarely afforded space by the Nigerian defenders as well.
Overall, the Bosnians will be disappointed. It seems luck did not favor them. Had Sead Kolasinac not scored the unfortunate own goal against Argentina and had the officials not have disallowed Dzeko's goal, the Bosnia and Herzegovina fairytale might not have come to an end so abruptly.
Speaking of disappointments, Iran's players were definitely disappointed against Argentina. They frustrated the opposition endlessly only to lose out to an injury time goal from Lionel Messi. Also, a clear foul on Ashkan Dejagah should have definitely handed the Iranians a penalty. The referee did not allow it.
Now, they have to beat Bosnia and hope that Argentina does them a favor by beating Nigeria in the other game. In the event that Nigeria is beaten, Iran will have to win by at least a two goal margin to progress.
Can Iran beat the odds and qualify for the next round?
Where to watch the match: Live Streams, Live Scores, Start Times, TV Channels:
Watch Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Iran live on Wednesday, June 25, 2014:
In the US at 12.00 EST on:
- On TV: SiriusXM FC, ESPN2, UniMás, Galavision
- Online & Apps: ESPN3 Online-App, Univision Deportes En Vivo, WATCH ESPN
- Audio / Radio: ESPN Radio
In Canada at 12.00 ET on:
- On TV: Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet Ontario, TVA Sports, Sportsnet East, Sportsnet World, Sportsnet West
- Online & Apps: CBC Sports Live Streaming, ICI Radio-Canada En Direct,
In the UK at 17.00 BST on:
- On TV: ITV 4 UK
- Online & Apps: The ITV Player
- Audio / Radio: BBC Radio 5 Live, TalkSport Radio
In Australia at 02:00 (Thursday) on:
- On TV: SBS One Australia
- Audio / Radio: SBS Radio 2, SBS Radio 4
For complete details of match listings and live scores, visit the Bosnia vs Iran match page.
STAY TUNED! DOWNLOAD the FREE LiveSoccerTV APP NOW:
For official TV broadcast listings, schedules, live match updates, and much, much more on all the 64 World Cup games, download Live Soccer TV's FREE App! Click on the links:
- For Android => http://bit.ly/lstvgpsm
- For iPhone iOS => http://bit.ly/lstvappsm
