“We controlled the match in the second half”: Khakpour

Tasnim – DOHA, Iran coach Mohammad Khakpour said that his team controlled the match in the second half against Syria in the AFC U-23 Championship opening match.

Iran defeated Syria 2-0 in Group A thanks to two goals from Amir Arsalan Motahhari and Mehrdad Mohammadi.

“These young men are the future of football in our country – and hopefully in Asia – but they’re young and they were stressed because this was the first game of the tournament and they didn’t perform well,” said Khakpour of his team’s first half performance.

“In the second half I asked them to just enjoy the game thereafter and I guess they did.”

“I believe the game is 90 minutes long and we never give up. We had studied Syria pretty well and we knew who are their key players but it was just that our players were a little stressed in the first half,” he added.

“But in the second half we controlled the game and the players enjoyed the game and that’s why we won,” Khakpour concluded.