Hisor: A gritty India kept defending champions Iran at bay for an hour before eventually losing 0-3 in their second group match of the CAFA Nations Cup football tournament here on Monday.
India fought hard for most part of the Group B match but let in two goals in the last seven minutes against their formidable rivals at the Hisor Central Stadium.
The Indian defence largely remained compact and thwarted waves of Iranian attack but failed to stop strikes from Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh (60th minute), Ali Alipourghara (89th) and Mehdi Taremi (90+6) to lose the match.
Iran are ranked 20th in the world while India are currently at 133rd in FIFA ranking.
Iranian head coach Amir Ghalenoei had come with a team that has a mix of veteran internationals and few emerging talents from the Iranian Premier League. agencies