AFC Beach Soccer Championship SF: IR Iran vs. Japan [PREVIEW]

AFC – KUALA TERENGGANU, Islamic Republic of Iran will not underestimate their AFC Beach Soccer Championship Malaysia 2017 semi-final opponents Japan when the sides lock horns in Kuala Terengganu on Friday.

Iran’s fourth straight victory when they beat Bahrain 5-2 in Group A’s last game on Wednesday concluded their impressive Group Stage campaign and booked their semi-final ticket.

They began their campaign by thumping hosts Malaysia 14-0 and then beat Afghanistan 6-1 before thrashing China PR 10-0 in the competition, where the top-three sides will play in the 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Nassau, Bahamas from April 27 to May 7.

“Japan are one of the best-ranked teams in the world. It will be hard for us and the match will surely be difficult. But we’ll do our best. We saw Japan play yesterday against the UAE and know how they play,” said head coach Mohammed Hoseyn Mirshamsi during a press conference.

“We will use our strengths against Japan. Our goalkeeper can also score to counter their power play if necessary, so that’s a strength that we’ll use against them. Definitely we will not underestimate the Japanese.

“We are ready for the game tomorrow and all Iranians are happy with us advancing to the semi-finals. We look forward to an exciting game and hopefully we’ll qualify for the World Cup.”

The Japanese lost to the United Arab Emirates 5-4 in Group C’s last match and had to wait for the end of the Group Stage to see if the best second-placed team ticket to the semi-finals would be theirs.

And Japan head coach Mendes Marcelo has said he may have to reconsider the power play tactic he employed against UAE when playing Iran and wants his side to give their all and relish the experience of facing one of the world’s top teams.

“There’s a plus and also a risk in power play,” he said. “We can score during our play power and the opponents can also score against us. It was very unfortunate for us to concede after we started our power play but that’s a risk you have to take if you want to up your game when trailing your opponents.

“It’s an option that we had. UAE played very hard yesterday and was different from what we expected. So in the end, we all had to take our chances and did what we had to do. It depends on the situation tomorrow whether we’ll implement power play.

“Iran are a very experienced side. But it’s good to fight one of the strongest teams and tomorrow will be important for us all as the tickets to the World Cup are at stake. It will be a hard game for us and them too but we’ll do our best.”

MATCH DETAILS
IR Iran v Japan
Kick-off: 1630hrs (GMT+8)
Venue: Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu

Photo: AFC