China lost to Iran 8-7 in penalty shoot-out after the two sides drew 2-2 after extra time, in a men's soccer quarter-final at the Doha Asian Games on Saturday.

Both China and Iran sent two attackers in a bid to score first,　but the two sides played a dull and physical game during most part of the first half.

Iran broke the deadlock in the 39th minute. Borhani Arash got the ball from a long through cross, broke through Chinese defense and scored after bypassing Chinese goalkeeper Wang Dalei.

But before he sent the ball into net, Arash stopped the ball on the line, gesturing for his teammates to come up, which is a very humiliating act. Unfortunately, referee Alghafary Naser from Jordan, who had a clear view of all this, did nothing at all.

After the break, China quickly equalized when defender Feng Xiaoting shot the ball into the net in the 51st minute. But China was dealt a blow when their forward Zhu Ting received a red card for a tackle in the 62nd minute.

But China played more actively after the expulsion and gained slight upper hand with 10 men. Both China and Iran failed to score again during the second half and the two sides went to extra time.

Though Iran gained a huge advantage during extra time, but China's Zhou Haibin gave China 2-1 lead with a beautiful goal in the 98th minute. Iran equalized in the 106th minute with a goal from Khoshkebejari Seyed Jalal.

After the 120-minute game, the two sides went to penalty. After Zhao Ming failed to score, China lost 7-8 to Iran.

(Xinhua News Agency December 10, 2006)