Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Tashkent: Iran coach Mohammad Nazemosharie is intent on keeping up his side’s winning momentum at the AFC Futsal Championship as the 10-time champions face Iraq on Sunday to decide the Group B winners.
While both nations have won their opening two matches it’s Iran who top the standings thanks to a superior goal difference meaning Iraq must win if they are to claim top spot in the section.
Host nation Uzbekistan – with their raucous support – have already booked top spot in Group A meaning whoever loses between Iraq and Iran will face a daunting quarter-final matchup.
“Naturally, we should continue our progress as we’ve been doing,” said Nazemosharie (pictured).
“We always plan two matches ahead but we respect Iraq and know this will be a difficult match because there are some wonderful players in their squad and they have been growing match on match.”
Iraq celebrated their dramatic 4-3 win over Jordan that booked their place in the next round with much gusto – and for good reason.
This is just the second time at ten attempts that the nation has reached the quarter-finals and much of the recent improvement is being attributed to the establishment of a professional futsal league two years ago.
“Iran is the one of the best teams in Asia and we’re thinking only about this match, not the future,” claimed coach Haitham Abbas.
“Our players are physically very tired and we might need to think about just how we approach this game.”
The other match of the day sees China face Jordan at the Universal Stadium with both nations eager to go home with a win on the board.
“Although we have lost our two matches we have only a small numbers of futsal players we can call upon – maybe less than 100 – so we believe that because we have lost by smaller margins than in the past that this shows the progress of futsal in China,” said their coach Shan Zhiping.
Tournament debutants, Jordan, meanwhile will be looking to secure third place with a maiden win in their first appearance at the tournament.
“We know just how important this match will be and we want to do something,” said Jordan coach Salah Abu Jafer.
“This is our first time at the finals and we will give our all to defeat China.”
Photo: AFC