Miralem Pjanic in the 53rd

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. German Marquez Jersey . 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. David Dahl Jersey . Greece was on the wrong end of a 3-0 rout to Colombia in its first game of the tournament. They surrendered a goal in just the sixth minute of the contest, and despite some promising attacking play, failed to crawl back into the match. Japan, on the other hand, struck first in its match with Ivory Coast, with Keisuke Honda putting his side into the lead in the 16th minute. Carlos Estevez Jersey . Former San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds made his longshot request of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit upheld Bonds conviction in September. LOS ANGELES -- Josh Rutledge began the season at Triple-A before the Colorado Rockies recalled him less than three weeks ago. The little-used second baseman came up big in a key situation on Sunday to help them win another series. Rutledge hit a three-run homer to support Jorge De La Rosas seven strong innings, and the Rockies beat the error-prone the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-1 in the rubber game of the three-game set. Colorado was leading 3-1 in the sixth when Rutledge drove Hyun-Jin Ryus 89th and final pitch into the left-field pavilion. Rutledges homer was the 16th of his career, and his first with more than one man on base since his grand slam on Sept. 16, 2012, at San Diego. He came into the game with one RBI in 18 at-bats. "That was a big at-bat by Rut. Obviously, that changes the game there," manager Walt Weiss said. "Hes not playing every day, but hes working hard and staying ready until he gets an opportunity." Nolan Arenado had two hits and extended his career-best hitting streak to 17 games -- the longest active string in the majors. The Gold Glove third baseman also robbed Scott Van Slyke of extra bases, making a diving stop across the foul line behind third base and throwing him out. "I told him that was one of the top three plays Ive ever seen him make. And thats saying something, because we know theres a pretty good collection," Weiss said. "Hes as good as Ive seen, and hes changed several games this year with his defence." The Rockies won their fourth straight series after beating San Diego, Philadelphia and San Francisco. "We feel really good about it," right fielder Brandon Barnes said. "We dont take anything for granted and we keep battling every day." De La Rosa (2-3) allowed a run and four hits. The left-hander has beaten the Dodgers in three straight starts after going 0-8 with a 7.32 ERA in his 10 previous career starts against them. "I just tried to attack the hitters," De La Rosa said. "I know those guys and they know me, too. So I was just trying to make my pitches." Ryus two-out single in the second inning was Los Angeles last hit until Matt Kemp doubled to right-centre with two outs in the eighth against Adam Ottavino. Michael Cuddyer Jersey. Ryu (3-2) gave up six runs and nine hits in five-plus innings. The Korean-born lefty is 0-2 with a 9.69 ERA in his three starts at Dodger Stadium, but 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA in four road starts. "The key against him is getting a good pitch to hit and being able to drive it," Barnes said. "He likes to stay on the corner, so you just have to try to get a ball up." Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez didnt start because of a bruised right thumb and Justin Turner filled in for him. Turner made one of the Dodgers three errors. They have 26 on the season. "We just need to relax a little bit and play good defence and be the good defensive players we all are," Turner said. "I wouldnt say were pressing, but everyones aware of whats going on. Sometimes I guess you try a little harder and then you get out of character." Turners throwing error in the second inning on De La Rosas two-out single in the hole put runners at second and third. Ryu hit major league batting leader Charlie Blackmon with a pitch and gave up a two-run single by Barnes that put the Rockies ahead 2-1. Three innings later, Ryu committed his first error in 37 major league starts when he bobbled a sacrifice bunt by Barnes and threw too late to first base. Blackmon scored the Rockies third run, beating the throw by Turner after he tagged out Barnes in a rundown on an attempted steal. Kemp also dropped a fly ball for the Dodgers. Adrian Gonzalez had an RBI single in the first to make it 1-0 Los Angeles. Ramirez pinch-hit in the ninth and got a two-out infield single against Chris Martin, who was making his second big league appearance. Gordon followed with a single that loaded the bases for Yasiel Puig, who grounded out to end the game. NOTES: The Dodgers, whose next victory will be their 10,000th as a franchise, begin a nine-game road trip Tuesday night at Minnesota. ... De La Rosa came in 0-3 with a 7.98 ERA in his three other road starts this season. ... The Dodgers recalled INF Carlos Triunfel from Triple-A Albuquerque and optioned RHP Jose Dominguez to Triple-A Albuquerque. Triunfel was claimed on outright waivers from Seattle on April 2. ' ' '