Vahid Shamsaei hopeful of FIFA Futsal WC 2024 success

Tasnim – BANGKOK, Head coach Vahid Shamsaei believes newly minted AFC Futsal Asian Cup Thailand 2024 champion Iran has the potential to go the distance at September’s FIFA Futsal World Uzbekistan 2024.

Iran produced a dominant performance to defeat host Thailand 4-1 in the final to secure a historic 13th title at the Bangkok Arena on Sunday.

For Shamsaei, the win was special for him and his players, as they redeemed themselves following their 2022 final heartbreak at the hands of Japan.

“Reflecting on the previous tournament, despite scoring plenty of goals throughout, we ultimately lost in the final against Japan. This time, we maintained a high level of concentration,” said Shamsaei.

“I want to express my deep appreciation to all my players for their sacrifice and hard work, especially during the holiday season when we chose to stay back and train.

“I’m incredibly grateful for the support from their families in allowing them to dedicate themselves to our shared goal. I firmly believe that it’s these sacrifices that have shaped our journey towards becoming champions of Asia.”

Iran won its sixth consecutive match to lift their 13th title with Shamsaei saying that his team was more balanced for this edition.

“Changing a generation is very difficult. We started this tournament without our best player, Hossein Tayebi, who was the top scorer in the last edition. At that time, we only had four players with Asian Cup experience. For this tournament, we only had five players with no experience in the Asian Cup.

“We will now shift our focus to the FIFA World Cup. The preparations for that will be different, and we need good support from the federation. I have had plenty of support from my team of advisers and assistant head coach. The decision whether I remain as head coach depends on the federation,” he added.