Doha, 6 February 2024 - Iranian national football team coach Amir Ghalenoei said that his squad's match against Qatar on Wednesday will be challenging, adding that this is an important opportunity for this current generation of players to make history and win the championship for their country.
In the pre-match press conference, Ghalenoei said that his game plans vary depending on the opponent's strengths and weaknesses, indicating the probability of some changes occurring in the team's formation in their match against Qatar.
Iran's coach noted that the Qatar team are a defending champion and a strong opponent with outstanding players, however, he stressed that his main objective in tomorrow's match is winning, making it to the finale for the first time in half a century, and coming out as champion.
Ghalenoei said that he will see to it that lesson will be learned from Iran's match against Japan, underscoring his eagerness for those mistakes not to reoccur.
The Coach added that since taking his post as national team coach, he has been working towards creating harmony and cohesion among all team members to turn them into a united team, something that has given them a confidence boost on the pitch and led them to operate as a team especially at difficult times.
Ghalenoei said that Iran is before a golden opportunity to finally realize the long awaited goal of being champion, adding that this must be motivation enough to win over Qatar tomorrow, to then hopefully also win the finale.
In turn, Iranian footballer Saeid Ezatolahi thanked the State of Qatar for organizing such a distinguished AFC Asian Cup tournament in all aspects, especially only a year after hosting the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
Ezatolahi noted Qatar's strong squad, however he said that his team have set their victory over Japan aside and are now totally ready and focused on winning their match against Qatar and making it to the finale, adding that the team will ensure not to repeat their mistakes from the previous match.
