Ghotbi: Iran will put an end to title drought

PFDC – TEHRAN, Iran coach Afshin Ghotbi believes to be able to put an end to Iran’s 35-year title drought.

In a recent press conference ahead of Team Melli’s East-Asia tour on September 3rd and 7th, Ghotbi expressed his satisfaction over the past results of the Iranian football national team.

“I have coached Iran 21 times, 15 of them have been away matches. We have recently played seven warm-up games, four of them have been away games in which we were victorious in three games,” Ghotbi was quoted by Mehr News Agency.

“We are going to put an end to the 35-year title drought in the Asian Cup in Doha. Playing with China and South Korea will help us to get ready for the event. China is a good football team and South Korea needs no comment. The Koreans had an outstanding performance in the 2010 World Cup,” Ghotbi added.

Iran will face North Korea, Iraq and the UAE in the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar.