Queiroz happy with draw against Japan

Tasnim – TEHRAN, Iranian national football team’s coach Carlos Queiroz said the draw against Japan is a satisfying result since they have so many high-ranked players.

Iran and Japan drew 1-1 in a friendly match held at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran.

“First of all, congratulation to both team’s players and coaching staff since it was a good match,” Queiroz said in the post-match news conference.

“Iran was the dominant team in the first half and we created some opportunities but the Japanese team was good after the interval,” the Portuguese coach said.

“Japan friendly match was a good international opportunity for us. We didn’t want to miss that. It was a good match for our players. Japan’s tiki-taka style of play was good and they have several high-ranked players who are playing in the big European clubs at the moment,” he added.

“Iranian players met my expectations and I am satisfied with the way they played against Japan,” the Iranian coach said.

Japanese national football team’s head coach Vahid Halilhodzic says that the draw against Iran in a friendly match in Tehran was a fair result.

Iran and Japan drew 1-1 in a warm-up match held at Azadi Stadium in Tehran in front of about 10,000 fans.

“We came here to beat Iran but I think the result was fair at the end of the match,” Halilhodzic said in the post-match news conference.

“We knew that Iran has several dangerous players and because of that we didn’t let them receive the ball into the box,” Japanese coach added.

“We fielded some young and inexperienced players against Iran and I think it was a good experience for them. We could have even won the match,” Halilhodzic stated.