Iran respects Maldives, Carlos Queiroz says

MNA – TEHRAN, Iran football coach Carlos Queiroz said that they have a lot of respect for the Maldives, but they have to beat them.

Iran will play the Maldives in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers on Saturday in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium. The second leg will be held in Male, the Maldives capital on July 28.

“I am satisfied with my players at the moment since they are committed to their team and stay motivated to play the Maldives. We want to show a good performance and defeat them,” Queiroz said on Friday during a pre-match news conference.

“The Maldives football team has developed in recent years as other Asian countries, and will be headed by an experienced staff. They recently drew with India,” the Portuguese added.

“We have a lot of respect for them but respect ourselves more. Iran is ready to beat the Maldives,” he concluded.

The Maldives has been beaten 17-0 by Iran in 1997, but the team’s coach Andres Cruciani is confident that his team will not suffer such heavy losses.

“We have not had enough time to prepare our team for the Iran match but I can assure you that the Maldives will not be defeated against Iran as in previous matches,” Cruciani said.