17th June, 2014
Iran’s Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz has revealed that his game plan against Nigeria’s Super Eagles in their Group F match in the ongoing Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup worked well for his team.
The first draw of the World Cup in Brazil came last night, in the 13th match of the tournament. While that number brought the well-organised Asians no misfortune, the same could not be said for their African opponents, who went away with less than they had hoped for.
Chances were few and far between in the Group F match at Curitiba’s Arena da Baixada. Though the Super Eagles went into the game as favourites, on account of the experience and quality of their players, it was Team Melli who created the clearest chance of the match.
Speaking to FIFA.com after the goalless draw, Queiroz revealed how his players felt about the match: “We’re relieved to have got the point. We’re up against Argentina in our next game and if we’d lost this match, then we would have left ourselves in a very tricky situation. We are very happy, because Iran have got much less to work with than other sides.”
Adding: “My players played a fantastic game in terms of their concentration, discipline and their willingness to work for each other. That was our biggest asset. The most important thing we can take from this game is that our morale is high. It’s shown that we can get results.”
Iran captain Javad Nekounam said: “We started the game well. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy at all and we also knew that we’d lose if we didn’t keep our focus. We are happier with the result than they are, but we can’t just settle for what we’ve got. We only have one point and we still have two very difficult games ahead of us.
“We did everything well,” continued the ex-Osasuna midfielder, who is optimistic about Iran’s immediate future. “We could have snatched a win in the last 20 minutes, but we lacked the finishing touch. I think that’s the area we need to improve in. When you consider that a lot of our players were making their World Cup debuts, it’s been a very good day for us.”