Ebrahimzadeh eyes big ACL week for Iran

AFC – ESFAHAN, Zob Ahan’s head coach Mansour Ebrahimzadeh hopes his team’s 1-0 win over Qatar’s Al Rayyan heralds a successful week for Iranian football.

Esmaeil Farhadi’s first-half goal lifted Zob Ahan to 10 points, top of 2011 AFC Champions League Group D, as well as leaving the visitors bottom of the group with a solitary point.

Wednesday sees Group A leaders Sepahan in action also taking on Qatari opposition in the form of Al Gharafa, while Piroozi face Bunyodkor in Group C.

And Ebrahimzadeh said: “I am happy with the victory of Zob Ahan as an Iranian team, I hope tomorrow we hear about two more wins from Iranian teams.

“I hope we don’t play against an Iranian team in the quarter-finals. That way, we would have a better chance of seeing more Iranian teams in the semi-finals of the tournament.”

On Tuesday’s performance, the coach added: “As I said before the game, this was the last chance for Al Rayyan to pave their way to the quarter-finals, so they made their best effort on the pitch.

“We scored the goal at the right time, but afterward we were a bit exhausted in the second-half. I knew they would try to make the most of free-kicks and fouls and that could have been dangerous for us, but Shahab Gordan produced a good performance in goal.”

Al Rayyan boss Paulo Autuori admitted the defeat realistically ended his side’s chances of progressing to the last16, but drew on the experience gained from the campaign.

“The tournament ends for us only after the group stage,” he said.

“We’ve got more experience now and have ascended to a higher level of football. I predict better days for the future of the team, because the AFC Champions League has taught my players a lot of new things.

“I am hopeful we can get some success in continental tournaments in future.”

Autuori admitted the games against Zob Ahan in particular have been a great learning experience and had words of praise for Iranian football in general.

“Iran has one of the highest levels of football in Asia,” he added.

“We have enjoyed playing with Zob Ahan in Group C as it helped us gain good experience.

“If Zob Ahan repeat how they played against us in Doha, they’ll most probably make it to the semi-final and even the final.”