Columbus Crew SC winger Justin Meram was a late substitute for Iraq in their 3-2 loss Friday to United Arab Emirates in the third-place game of the Asian Cup at Hunter Stadium in Newcastle, Australia.
Meram came on in the 86th minute on the left wing for Amjad Kalaf as the Lions of Mesopotamia pushed for an equalizer. It was an especially disappointing result for Iraq considering they took a 2-1 lead into the halftime locker room after goals from Waleed Salim and Kalaf.
But UAE’s Ahmed Khalil, who scored the game’s opening goal, netted his second in the 51st minute, and Ali Ahmed Mabkhout sent in the winner in the 57th minute. Those two goals were sandwiched by a red card to Iraq's Ahmad Ibrahim Khalaf in the 55th minute.
The UAE were defeated 2-0 by host nation in Tuesday’s semifinal, while Meram was unused in Iraq’s 2-0 loss Monday to South Korea in the other semifinal.
Meram had started two straight games previous to the semifinals, wins over Palestine and rivals Iran.
