Allgemeines » acking the defence, but created several chances on countera

SALVADOR, Brazil -- Bosnia-Herzegovina ended Irans hopes of advancing to the knockout stages with a 3-1 victory in Group F on Wednesday, registering its first World Cup win in the process. The Bosnians, who were already relegated from the tournament, took a commanding 2-0 lead with goals from Edin Dzeko in the 23rd and Miralem Pjanic in the 53rd before Iran hit back in a desperate late bid to qualify for the second round. Reza Ghoochannejhad gave some hope to the Iranians with a tap-in goal in the 81st, but Avdija Vrsaljevic replied immediately with his low shot from the edge of the area to restore the two-goal lead. Iran needed a win to have any chance of advancing. "Sorry to our opponents, but this was also an important win for us so we could hold our heads up high leaving this tournament," Bosnia-Herzegovina coach Safet Susic said. "Throughout the match we were those who wanted to win more." The Bosnians were already out of contention at their first World Cup following consecutive losses to Argentina and Nigeria. Iran coach Carlos Queiroz brought in strikers Khosro Heydari and Karim Ansari Fard in the second half but the shift in system only netted one goal. Playing at its fourth World Cup, the Iran squad faced criticism for its dour defensive tactics after a 0-0 draw against Nigeria. The Iranians also spent much of their game against Argentina packing the defence, but created several chances on counterattacks and nearly caused a major upset before conceding a late winner by Lionel Messi. "I was a bit surprised by Iran, they needed a win and they were calculating," Susic said. "That backfired for them. Maybe they could not change their habits." Queiroz said he could not change the defensive style with the players he had available. "Susic has his opinion," Queiroz said. "The next time I will give him the opportunity to train Iran and Ill train Bosnia, and we will see." "He has players who play in Roma and Manchester City, and whom do I have?" he asked, referring to Pjanic and Dzeko and Iranian players who mostly play in Iranian and smaller European clubs. "You squeeze an orange and then you see that you have players who cannot be squeezed no more," he said. "We played to the limits of our mental and physical capacities, and Im very proud of my players," Queiroz said. Bosnia created most of the chances in the match, with Dzeko -- criticized for missing several opportunities during Bosnias earlier two matches -- firing a volley over the bar in the third minute, and then heading straight at the Iran goalkeeper from close range. He opened the scoring in the 23rd with a low shot from 20 yards (meters) that deflected in off the post. Pjanic doubled the lead a half hour later with an angled shot from inside the box. Irans only genuine chances came after its only goal of the tournament came in the last frantic minutes, with Ghoochannejhads close-range shot narrowly missing late. Queiroz said he believes that Bosnia was the best team in the group. "The best team of the group did not qualify, with all my respects to Argentina and Nigeria," he said. "Today, they played on another level." Asmir Begovic, who made 11 appearances for Canadas under-20 team, started in goal for Bosnia. "So happy to finished off our World Cup with a win!" Begovic tweeted sfter the match. "Congratulations to everybody on out 1st ever win at the World Cup! Thanks for the support." ------ Lineups: Bosnia-Herzegovina: Asmir Begovic; Toni Sunjic, Emir Spahic, Sead Kolasinac; Avdija Vrsajevic, Anel Hadzic (Ognjen Vranjes, 61st), Miralem Pjanic, Muhamed Besic, Tino-Sven Susic (Sejad Salihovic, 79th); Edin Dzeko (Edin Visca, 84th), Vedad Ibisevic. Iran: Alireza Haghighi; Pejman Montazeri, Jalal Hosseini, Amir Hossein Sadeghi, Mehrdad Pooladi; Andranik Timotian, Javad Nekounam, Ehsan Haji Safi (Alireza Jahanbakhsh, 63rd); Masoud Shojaei (Khosro Heydari, 46th), Ashkan Dejagah (Karim Ansarifard, 68th), Reza Ghoochannejhad. Wholesale Cheap Jerseys . Tottenham claimed top spot in Group K by winning 2-0 at Tromso after defender Adnan Causevic scored an own goal before Mousa Dembele put the result beyond doubt. Valencia made sure it will finish first in Group A with a 1-0 win at Swansea thanks to an early goal from Dani Parejo. Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic . Ending a nine-game losing streak? That gave the Milwaukee Bucks veteran forward a reason to smile. http://www.nflcheapjerseyschina.net/. -- Dane Fox scored his 61st and 62nd goals of the season and Brendan Gaunce had a goal and three assists as the Erie Otters downed the Kitchener Rangers 7-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. NFL Jerseys China . Catch all the action on TSN starting at 10:30pm et/7:30pm pt. Toronto won at Denver and Utah, but lost in Portland and Sacramento. The Kings loss was the most recent game for the Raptors. NBA Jerseys Cheap . -- Peyton Manning is the only player in this Super Bowl who has won the big game.After ending a four-game losing streak in their last game, the Toronto Maple Leafs will shoot for a rare win in Boston when they visit the Bruins for tonights Atlantic Division clash at TD Garden. Toronto ended an 0-4-0 skid with Sundays shootout win over visiting New Jersey, but the club could have a difficult time making it two victories in a row tonight. The Maple Leafs have dropped three straight and 11 of the last 12 regular- season meetings against Boston overall and the Bruins have claimed six straight in Beantown. Of course, last springs opening-round playoff loss against the Bruins is not a source of confidence for the Maple Leafs either. Toronto pushed Boston to seven games last May and held a 4-1 third-period lead in Game 7 before coming apart at the seams. The Bruins scored three times in the final 10 minutes of regulation to send the decisive game into overtime and then won it 5-4 on a Patrice Bergeron goal in the extra session. Boston is 2-0 since that classic Game 7 battle, taking a 3-1 decision at home on Nov. 9 before notching a 5-2 decision in Toronto on Dec. 8. Despite its recent failures against the Bruins, Toronto will try to build off Sundays win over the visiting Devils when it visits TD Garden tonight. James van Riemsdyk scored the lone goal of the shootout to help Toronto get back in the win column for the first time since beating Detroit in the Winter Classic on Jan. 1. Van Riemsdyk opened the shootout with a nifty backhander past Cory Schneider before Jonathan Bernier turned aside all three New Jersey shooters to give Toronto the extra point. Van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak each lit the lamp in reegulation, while Bernier stopped 36 shots to help snap Torontos slide.dddddddddddd "We needed this bad," Bernier said. "We found a way. If thats what it takes to go into a shootout and get points and move on like this, it feels good for the confidence." Bernier will get the start tonight and hell be looking for his first career win against Boston. He is 0-2-0 with a 5.67 goals against average versus the Bs and was in net for Torontos 5-2 loss to Boston on Dec. 8. Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask, meanwhile, has stellar career numbers against the Leafs, going 9-1-0 with a 1.41 GAA in 10 starts. Rask is coming off his league-leading fifth shutout of the season, as he stopped all 26 shots in Saturdays 1-0 win in San Jose. Carl Soderberg scored the only goal of the game for the Bruins, who finished a three-game California trip with a mark of 1-2-0. Soderbergs goal came at 12:25 of the third period and it wasnt exactly one for the highlight reel. Loui Eriksson fired a shot on net from the right wing that was blocked by a defender before it got to the net. The puck, though, dribbled down to the left side where Soderberg slammed it in for his sixth of the year. "A goals a goal in this league," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "You get some tough ones that go against you so every once in a while its good to have some go for you. Thats the breaks of the game, and sometimes you have to make them yourself." Boston is home for just one game before playing two straight and four of its next five away from TD Garden. The Bruins are 18-4-2 as the host compared to an 11-10-0 mark on the road. ' ' '