Park strife as champions crash out
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AFC – POHANG, Pohang Steelers boss Park Chang-hyun admitted relinquishing their AFC Champions League crown was hard to take after Mohammad Reza Khalatbari’s 80th minute goal earned Zob Ahan a 1-1 draw at the Steelyard to see the Iranians into the last four.
Trailing 2-1 from the first-leg, Kim Jae-sung put the hosts in pole position to qualify as his ninth minute strike gave Pohang the advantage on the away goals rule.
Seol Ki-hyun then missed two great chances to put the quarter-final tie out of sight – the second saw him blaze over from seven yards with an empty goal at his mercy – before Khalatbari’s clinical late strike broke Korean hearts.
“We missed a great chance to become a champion of Asia. It will affect us psychologically,” conceded Park.
“All we have to do is to do our best in the remaining seven league games. I feel sorry for our fans who must have been disappointed tonight.”
“Even though it was a holiday, many fans came to the stadium but we disappointed them. I am sorry for that. The luck was not on our side.”
Pohang only have themselves to blame after dominating the majority of the game but wasting a number of good opportunities with Seol particularly culpable
“Seol Ki-hyun had two great chances,” added Park.
“One was a great save by Zob Ahan’s goalkeeper and the other one was Seol’s mistake. It was an easy chance but he tried too hard. His miss made a huge affect on the result of tonight.
“Seol used to play in the big leagues. I am sure he will recover from this blow.”
Park also paid tribute to Khalatbari’s clinical finish.
“Mohammad Khalatbari is a very dangerous player,” he said.
“We lost him only once and he scored. That makes him a great player. Zob Ahan were also good in general.”
Zob Ahan coach Mansour Ebrahimzadeh now has his eye on the ultimate prize.
“We concentrated on attacking in the second half. My players did their best. All the teams that qualified for the semi-final have a possibility. In order to challenge for the crown, we have to unite ourselves as a team,” he said.
Mahdi Rajabzadeh received a second booking for time wasting with three minutes to go and Ebrahimzadeh felt the midfielder’s dismissal was warranted after a lengthy spell spent rolling around on the pitch.
“If he was injured seriously there was nothing we can do about it but even for me, it was too much,” he added.
“I have to admit it. I think Rajabzadeh did the wrong thing.”
However, he denied his players were deliberately going to ground in the final minutes.
“My players were not acting. They were down on the pitch because they had injuries,” insisted Ebrahimzadeh.
“Pohang did the same thing when they were leading in the first half. I don’t think we deserve any of the blame.”
