“We are the best team in WAFF U-23 Championship” – Mohammad Khakpour

Tehran Times – DOHA, Iran U-23 football team head coach Mohammad Khakpour believes that his team is a level higher than other teams in the West Asian Football Federation tournament which is currently underway in Doha, Qatar.

“Our main goal in this tournament was to test the players and prepare the team for the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship in which we can book a place in the next year’s summer Olympics for the first time in forty years. I believe that we are the best team in West Asia in terms of the players’ technical abilities but we have to be focused on the pitch,” Khakpour told reporters.

“We have an important game against Yemen in the semi-final on Saturday. We don’t know much about them so we have to be careful to get the positive result and qualify for the final. Syria is also a very strong side who has a couple of dangerous players. We are in the same group with them in the 2016 AFC U-23 Championships so it would be a very good test if we face them,” Khakpour added.

“We will try our best to win the title and make Iranian fans happy,” former Team Melli defender added.

On Saturday host Qatar will face Syria while in the other semi-final game Iran take on Yemen.