Antonio Simoez , Iran’s assistance coach:

“A team that loses 5 points at home , has a mountain to climb. Football is a cruel game. It can only take a moment for you to win or lose a match and possibly  the whole thing. Although our team stared quite well in the first half ,  the further the match was ongoing the more we were making mistakes.”

When asked by a reporter why certain player was not in the lineup, Simoez said “It is the same old story, isn’t it? When we win a match , nobody questions the players’ selection or line-up , but when we lose , it was because of the players that was not included in the match!”

Andranik Teymourian Iran’s midfielder :

” We were unlucky today , we created enough opportunities but we were not lucky to score. It was a bitter defeat and I must apologized to the fans who dared and came to see us under this rainy condition. Nothing is lost , if we beat Qatar , we will be challenging again.“. Asked by a reporter if his playing in Qatar League has affected his standard , Ando Teymourian said “That is your opinion , and I respect that , but today I was the best player in the match and my substitution was due to the coach’s decision (…)”

Omid Namazi Iran’s assistance coach:

” Our mission is really difficult now , but not impossible by any means.  We have to defeat Lebanon at home and defeat Qatar away , then fight for our lives against Korea away. We have to be realistic , it is going to be a difficult task ahead to qualify for the World Cup , but we have the resolve to do it”

Mirdjalal Kasimov Uzbekistan’s head coach:

“ Victory against powerful Iran in Azadi stadium is quite sweet. This was an interesting game in the sense that both teams were going for a win. I was 100% sure that we could win even in front of a full capacity stadium. I appreciate the small number of our supporters who stood behind us during the match,”

Reza Ghoochanejad Team Melli forward

“Uzbekistan had one serious attack and that was on a dead ball, and they scored while we missed several scoring chances. I missed some chances myself. I admit that a team with a record of 2 goals in five matches is not very encouraging , but we have to create chances and have to take our chances. The mission is very difficult but we should not lose hope and more importantly , the fans should keep backing the team all the way to the end of the campaign”

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Group A