Queiroz all praise for Qatar

Gulf Times – DOHA, The Iranian football establishment should take a leaf out of Qatar’s book when it comes to support for the national football team, legendary Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz said yesterday.

The 65-year-old Queiroz, who has managed Real Madrid and his native Portugal besides the UAE and South Africa, has been in charge of Iran since 2011, but reckons that the federation is not giving the team the backing  they deserve. He is particularly miffed at the way the authorities refused permission for the team to play three friendly matches that left them short of practice heading to the Asian Cup in the UAE next month.

He said Iran would have played only five matches before the continental tournament while they should have played at least 10. “First of all I’d like to thank the Qatar Football Association for hosting us in Doha. Without Qatar’s help particularly miffed we couldn’t have managed to play even five matches before the Asian Cup. Ideally we should have played at least 10 matches,” Queiroz told journalists at a press conference in Doha. 

Iran and several Asian Cup-bound teams, including China, have used Qatar’s excellent facilities to train and play friendly matches before the tournament that kicks off on January 5.

Iran, who are still in Qatar, would be taking on Qatar behind closed doors today, but Queiroz said the squad is still a works in progress because of the Iranian federation’s tendency to “cut corners”.

“They cut corners and expect me to come up with a magic decision. Tomorrow is our last game before the Asian Cup starts and I’ll have to make some experiments. I’ll have to think about a few things before our first game (against Yemen on Jan 7).”

He said, in sharp contrast, Qatar are nicely placed. “They have brought in players like Xavi and the best of coaches to Aspire. They have made tremendous progress under Coach Felix Sanchez. They are a completely different team,” added the master tactician.