Winning the final now all that matters for IR Iran’s Mozafar

AFC – BANGKOK, Islamic Republic of Iran head coach Shahrzad Mozafar says substance, not style is at the forefront of their push for a second successive title in Saturday’s AFC Women’s Futsal Championship 2018 final against Japan.

The defending champions have been all but untouchable in Bangkok, scoring 32 goals in four matches, with a briefly defiant China PR the only side to issue a serious challenge to their dominance.

But despite the sheer weight of goals in their campaign, and the style in which they have been scored, Mozafar said getting the job done was her only focus in the final.

“We are thinking only about winning in the final,” said the 48-year-old.“It doesn’t matter how many we score, I’m not thinking about the extent of the result, I’m just thinking about winning, that’s it. The final game is a very special game and we have to be really careful and clever.”

Iran beat Japan 1-0 in the final in the inaugural final in Malaysia three years ago, with tournament MVP Fereshteh Karimi scoring the decisive goal and Farzaneh Tavasoli making a number of key saves.

Both players have been outstanding again in Bangkok, with able support from the likes of nine-goal top scorer Fatemeh Etedadi and Sara Sirbeigi.They all played a role In Mozafar’s side’s racing to a 4-0 half-time lead in their semi-final win over Vietnam, but the tactician insisted she remained focused on closing the game out rather than resting key players in the latter stages.

“A semi-final match is so important by itself. We have a day of rest, so I paid no attention to managing players before the final, because this match was so important,” she explained.

“You saw in the second half that Vietnam got back into the contest and played the game. It was not easy and we can’t be deceived by the result just because we won 5-0.

”While many of her players have been Asian champions before, winning the title would be a first for Mozafar, with Forouzan Soleimani at the helm when Iran lifted the trophy in 2015.

IR IRAN: ROAD TO THE FINAL

Group D: 14-0 Turkmenistan

Group D: 9-2 Uzbekistan

Quarter-final: 4-2 China PR

Semi-final: 5-0 Vietnam