Ali Doustimehr declared said “it’s our fault, because the U-17 team should have at least grabbed 4 points from the two games played against Argentina and Canada. We could have wrapped it up and done the job there and then, instead we have put ourselves in this situation were qualification to the next round is a bit more difficult”.
Speaking in the pre-match press conference in Al Ain , UAE where Iran`s U-17 team is scheduled to meet Austria in the final game of Group Ali Doustimeher added “we have a tough task against Austria, “
“We lost great scoring opportunities against the Canadian, The players and the fans are still lamenting those wasted chances. Some players are still affected by that and still quite upset as we speak. It is not much use talking about it. Now our goal is to qualify and to do that we need to win rather than hope to qualify based on the best second teams results.
About the preparations and plans for the Friday game against the Austrians, the U-17 coach said “Much of our preparation was in form of recovery and reducing the tension that was felt after the last game. We had a good couple of days in the recovery phase. We analyzed Austria based on the games they played and the European style they deploy and hence the training was adjusted as such to ensure we achieve our goal in the match”
Asked what does he think about the other match played at the same time between Argentina and Canada and what does he hope the result would be?, He pointed out that it does not matter to him what is the outcome of that match. “For me , the match against Austrian is what matters. We MUST win this one. I would not even bother to check the results of the other game as I want to focus completely at the task in our hands, not a one that we have no control on” Doustimehr said.
Regarding the attendance and the fans, the coach said he was quite impressed by the support of the Iranian fans in Dubai and he is very grateful for them for creating such a great atmosphere. “Our fans inspired us and we sincerely hope that similar numbers of supporters travel to Al Ain for this crucial match. We are very much counting on their support.”
Doustimehr , stressed upon the role of the fans and attendance in the stadiums. He said he was satisfied by the attendance figure in Dubai” Football does not mean much without fans, even if all the major players, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Maradona and Pele lead two teams to play a game, under coaching of the likes of Ferguson and Jose Mourinho, without the fans such match is tasteless and loses all it value.”
“I am very pleased with our fans. In General the attendance of our matches have been very good, with a good mixture of Iranians , Arab and expatriate fans from different communities present. Iran had a good support and hopefully they will come to Al Ain and support us again”
The last group matches on Friday will be played at the same time in Dubai , where Argentina will face Canada, and Al Ain where Austria will face Iran. Argentina is leading the table with 4 points , while Iran is third with 2 points from two matches. A win for Iran by any margin will assure them of qualification. Any other result will mean they have to wait for the result of the other groups.