Mazloomi finds no joy in victory

Tehran: Esteghlal coach Parviz Mazloomi admitted his side’s 2-1 Group D victory over Al Nassr was the bitterest of his career after they failed to reach the last 16 of the 2011 AFC Champions League.

Badar Al Motawa opened the scoring on the hour mark at the Azadi Stadium before Farhad Majidi in the 62nd and Hawar Mulla Mohammed in the 89th minutes turned the match around for Esteghlal. It was not enough, though, as they lost out to their Saudi opponents on goal difference.

“If Esteghlal will play future matches the way they played today, we will certainly claim the AFC Champions league title. I regret the points we failed to get. This result was the most acrimonious victory I had ever gained,” said Mazloomi.

“I thank each and every spectator for supporting us nonstop but some problems in the stands caused the players to lose their concentration, they thought the supporters were talking against them and that was the time we conceded the goal.

“My players did a good job however and they played one of the best games ever, an attacking game.

“I also congratulate Al Nassr, who qualified to the next stage, but we could definitely have beaten them by two or three goals difference. We wasted the simplest scoring chances because of our stress.

“Al Nassr were only defending and clearing the balls because they were already through even with a 2-1 defeat.

“We were unable to bring their defensive line forward because their strategy was counter-attacks. We also changed our system to 4-3-3 and 4-2-4 in the second-half but still weren’t capable of breaching their defence. Although we couldn’t qualify, the fans supported us which is a sign of their great patience.”

Al Nassr return to Iran at the end of May to face Zob Ahan and Mazloomi predicted his compatriots to come out on top.

“If Al Nassr play with the same system they played against us in the next round, Zob Ahan will overcome them effortlessly.”, he added.

Al Nassr boss Dragan Skocic was just relieved to go through.

“I am happy with the result because we qualified to the next stage,” he said.

“It is difficult to play in front of 60 to 70 thousand spectators. We were under a lot of pressure but I feel satisfied that we are already among the last 16.

“It is sometimes hard to win especially when you are playing under the weight of the opponent’s support. With a lot of pressure on us we couldn’t perform our planned tactics but what is important for us now is our place in the last 16.

“Today’s game was like we were playing in a knockout match. I am so happy that we could qualify to the next round by gaining such a result.”