Ebrahimzadeh satisfied after Shabab stalemate

The stalemate at the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd International Stadium leaves Zob Ahan on four points, one ahead of Emirates after they beat Al Rayyan 2-0 at home and Ebrahimzadeh was pleased with a tactically astute performance.

“We didn’t permit Al Shabab to implement their plans because of our tactics,” he said.

“I think Al Shabab’s goalkeeper was the most valuable player of the game because he saved many shots.

“They controlled some parts of the game but we were in charge more than the home side. “ Ebrahimzadeh did stress, however, that it was still too early to start making predictions about who will progress from Group D.

“I can’t still say who will qualify as we’ve only been two weeks into the Champions League. We haven’t got even halfway through and it’s too early to predict.

“Emirates are a good team and they even have chances for qualification. Al Rayyan are also strong and the reason Al Shabab didn’t play well tonight was that we played a good game.

“I am sure they’ll get better in the coming weeks after Camacho returns to the squad.

“Any team who has more discipline and better planning gets better results and that’s what Esfahan-based teams are doing in the AFC Champions League.

“We are in a good situation in the standings at the moment but we should also focus on the coming games taking into consideration that each game has its own importance.”

Opposite number Enzo Trossero was also happy enough with another point in the bag following a second consecutive draw.

“It was a good game. We were playing against a big team like Zob Ahan, we implemented our plans and got one point,” he said.

“Don’t forget that we were playing without some big names such as Camacho. I owe this one point to all my players on the field especially our keeper. He also played really well against Al Ittihad and helped us get one point from that game as well.

“The games are tough in the Champions League. I’m sure you remember that Bunyodkor, who had Rivaldo, Denilson and even Scolari, didn’t get good results last year. Maybe yesterday you thought it would be an easy game for Zob Ahan but we didn’t let them do what they wanted to.

“If all my injured players come back to the team, not only will we play better games, I can even promise we will qualify to the next round.”