AFC Women’s Futsal Championship – We have to be careful against ‘new power’ China PR: Shahrzad Mozafar

AFC – BANGKOK, Reigning champions Islamic Republic of Iran eased into the last eight with two huge wins, but head coach Shahrzad Mozafar is wary of the challenge posed by China PR in Wednesday’s AFC Women’s Futsal Championship 2018 quarter-final.

Fourteen goals against Turkmenistan and nine more against Uzbekistan showed Iran remain a team of outstanding quality, but Mozafar has been impressed with what she has recently seen from her Chinese opponents.

The two sides met in a pair of friendly matches in Tehran just over a month ago, and although Iran won the first match 6-1, the second was a much more competitive 3-3 draw, with the hosts ultimately prevailing on penalties.

“From the two friendly matches with China in Iran, we could see that China really improved from the (2017) Asian Indoor Games. That was obvious,” Mozafar said.

“I think that China is a new power in Asian futsal, and in the future we well see a lot more of this team.

“I believe that China is a very good team with powerful and skilful players and we should be careful and clever about our match tomorrow.”

The 47-year-old reported no injury concerns among her playing staff, but urged her charges to remain cautious of the cutthroat nature of knockout futsal.

“We are so happy that we qualified in first place, and we are happy to have all of our players safe and sound for the Knockout Stage,” she said, before adding “In the Knockout Stage, every game is like a final so we should never underestimate any teams.”

Despite their 6-4 Matchday Three to loss to Japan, China PR have been impressive throughout the group stage and head coach Hu Jie believes his side is gathering momentum at the right time.

“We’re getting better and better in each game, and as a result the players are feeling encouraged,” he declared, before revealing his level of respect for his quarter-final opponents.

“Iran is the best team in Asia and the champions last time, and it’s an honour for us to play against them and we believe it’s a good game for us to play.

“We see tomorrow’s match as a great challenge against a very good team, but we will also be careful in how we approach the match.”