Jalal Hosseini , Team Melli central defender said “since Team Melli preparations was way behind the other opponents , the fans should not expect miracles.”
Seyed Jalal Hosseini spoke to Mehr news agency about the conditions of Iranian national team six days before the opener match against Bahrain, He said: “Thanks God our physical condition is quite decent. Unfortunately, we did not have an ideal number of preparation friendly games and that is a crucial point. Therefore, we had to compensate with much preparative physical work. From the day we landed in Australia, we have worked quite hard to get in shape ready for the Asian Cup with hard and tough training.”
He added “we had a very good game against Iraq. I hope that despite all the hardships, the lack of preparatory friendly games, we manage in showcasing our abilities and qualities in the Asian Cup. The first game is very important in such tournaments in particular, since our first opponent in the tournament is Bahrain, the team that we usually have some difficulties against. Anyway, I hope we have a good start, then continue from there on”
Hosseini said that there is no point in regretting what happened and divulging about the level of team preparations. “No matter how long we have been in a training camp, it is not a substitute for playing strong friendly games against quality oppositions. If you ask me whether our team’s preparation is on the same footing at the oppositions, I categorically say NO. However, this is all water under the bridge now. We must deal with this situation . Very little time is left to the start of the tournament., so we must not think about the past and feel sorry about ourselves , this is like shooting ourselves in the foot if we keep on about that. We simply have to carry on. In any case, the fact is that we are way behind the other teams in preparation programs. Each of them has done a dozen or so friendly games against strong teams. Ae are very backward. In that sense”
He added, however I strongly disagree with people who have demanded that Team Melli must win the title or at least reach the finals. The fact is that we have not had the proper preparation for such a strong tournament to justify such demand. The situation dictated upon us after our return from the World Cup , was as such that the team was sitting idle for 6 months without any games and meaningful program. Our squad had not had the chance for any match to see how the team performs with new players and what the benchmark is. Now we have many young players in our team. When players can show their real ability to have more opportunity to play together. We should not expect miracles from the team; however, we are of all our efforts we can make the people happy.”
Hosseini paid tribute to the new Team Melli players. The central defender, currently playing for Al AHli , admitted thy are quite a revelation with their hard work and stamina. “We have to accept that this group and others in the same level, are the future of Iran’s football. I am quite happy to see them paying so much attention and working their extreme best to impress in order to become established players.”