Iraq beats India 5-4 in the King’s Cup of Thailand
Two football players of the national teams of Iraq and India during a match in the 49th King’s Cup in Thailand. Photo: AIFF
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – After a 2-2 draw, the Iraqi national team beat its Indian counterpart 5-4 on penalties on Thursday in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in the 49th King’s Cup, a football tournament featuring four countries.
The first goal in the game was scored by India’s Naorem Mahesh in the 17th minute, before the Iraqi team equalized in the 28th minute through a goal scored by Ali Al-Hamadi in a penalty shot.
The Indian team took the lead again in the 51st minute after the Iraqi goalkeeper, Jalal Hassan, made a fatal mistake, but the Iraqi team equalized again in the 80th minute with a goal scored by Ayman Hussein through a penalty shot.
The rising Iraqi football star Zidane Iqbal, who plays for the Dutch club Utrecht, received a red card at the end of the match.
Iraq’s national team will now wait for the winner of the next match between Lebanon and Thailand to play on Sunday.
This is the first time the Lions of Mesopotamia have faced the Indian team in 12 years, as the two teams played their last match in 2010.
The Iraqi team has now won six out of seven matches the two teams have played on different occasions in their entire history. Only one match ended in a 1-1 tie.