Iran’s Dejagah still optimistic Iran will qualify to knockout stage

Tehran Times – SAO PAULO, Iran striker Ashkan Dejagah is confident his team can still make it to the knockout stage, despite the Iranian team suffering a 1-0 defeat against Argentina in Group F.

“I hope we have showed the world that Iran can play football. We still have a chance to go through and who would have thought our World Cup would last longer than England and Spain,” the 27-year-old told Daily Star.

Iran will take on Bosnia on Wednesday knowing a win could send them into the last 16.

Dejagah added: “We had such a bad feeling after the match against Argentina because of the way it ended. As a team we had played so well and defended superbly.

“We tried to make it tough for them and with a little bit of luck we would have won this game or even got a draw.

“The manager always tries to make sure that when we are training we are defending well and I think that is the most important thing. We did it well and still have a chance to go through.

“We were very unlucky.”