Tashkent: Coach Mohammad Nazemalsharie believes all-conquering Iran can still get better after securing an 11th AFC Futsal Championship with a 2-1 win over hosts Uzbekistan in Sunday’s final.
Iran went behind to Dilshod Irsaliev’s early strike before Ghodrat Bahadori and captain Mohammad Keshavarz scored to claim the continental crown in front of a packed Uzbekistan Stadium.
Nazelmalsharie’s team claimed six successive wins en route to winning a first continental title since defeating Uzbekistan 8-3 in 2010, while also erasing the memory of the final day penalty shootout defeat to Japan two years ago.
“For the past two tournaments we couldn’t be champions because we were going through a generational change,” said Nazemalsharie.
“But we had great preparation for this tournament, so we went into it thinking that we would be champions. We played well throughout the competition, but as a team I still think we can get better.
“This was the only game when we were under pressure so it wasn’t a game that we needed to score lots of goals, we just needed to have control.”
Iran began their continental campaign with successive Group B wins over Jordan, China, and Iraq before seeing off Kyrgyzstan 7-0 in the quarter-finals and Iran Vietnam 13-1 in the semi-finals to advance to the final
“It maybe wasn’t the best performance of the tournament that I expected, but that’s because the standard of Uzbekistan has improved so much,” added Nazemalsharie.
“They have a very good coach who knows what to do and performs his role very well. But aside their technical ability, their fans also make a big difference.
“But the build up to this tournament helped us a lot as we faced tough matches in Brazil that prepared my players for a night like tonight.”
The newly-crowned champions had also earlier qualified for 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Colombia as one of the competition’s top five teams and have now followed in the footsteps of inaugural AFC Women’s Futsal Championship winners Iran and AFC Futsal Club Championship winners Tasisat Daryaei.
“This tournament was great for preparing us for the World Cup. It is a good situation for Iranian futsal as our club side and women’s side have won the Asian championships,” said Nazemalsharie.
“We are now the third team in that group so it shows things are getting better.”
Photo: AFC