Ghotbi stresses WAFF importance

AFC – AMMAN, Afshin Ghotbi is confident his Iran side can not only go on to successfully defend their West Asian Football Federation title, but that they can continue to improve going into the finals of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011™ (January 7-29).

Iran handed Bahrain a 3-0 defeat to kick off their challenge for the 2010 West Asian title with Hadi Aghili scoring with a pair of almost identical headers to give Team Melli a two-goal lead at halftime.

A third by Mehrdad Oladi three minutes after the restart ended the game as a contest and underlined Iran’s superiority over a Bahrain side missing eight of their regular starting line-up.

“This tournament is very important for us because we have, in our group at the Asian Cup, two other Middle Eastern teams,” said the former Pirouzi coach.

“Playing here is a good exercise for us to prepare for that and to familiarise ourselves with the circumstances of playing abroad.

“The team has a fantastic mentality on and off the field and I’m sure the team can do well and I’m very optimistic, not only about this tournament but about the Asian Cup.”

Despite playing a weakened Bahrain side, Ghotbi was also at pains to point out that his team was far from full strength also.

“It was clear we were the better team and from the first to the last whistle we showed the quality we have in our team even though we don’t have some key players with us,” he said.

“We have continued our winning streak, that’s now seven games in a row, which is remarkable.

“We now look like a championship team and to control the game shows the depth of this team and the standard there is in Iranian football. Hopefully in each game we will get stronger.”

In the other match of the opening day, Jordan and Syria drew 1-1. The hosts took the lead through Abdullah Khaled Dib in the 13th minute but Mohamed Zino restored parity for Syria six minutes from time and the score stayed that way until the final whistle.