Qatar junior team head coach Nicolas Cordova expressed his satisfaction after his ranks played out a 1-1 draw against a tough Iranian side in their opening Group A match of the AFC U23 Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2022.
In a game dominated by Iran at Tashkent’s Bunyodkor Stadium on Wednesday, Qatar stunned the Iranians in the 87th minute through Ahmed Al Ganehi but Erfan Shariari popped up to salvage a point with his equaliser three minutes later.
Despite being reduced to chasing the ball for the majority of the match, Qatar displayed impressive fighting spirit in handling the Iranian pressure.
Cordova admitted the Iranians were physically superior but he was proud with how his charges were able to overcome the challenge.
“It was a physically tough match, but we had expected that most matches here would be like this,” said Cordova.
“It was obvious that Iran were physically very strong and the result was us losing duels and tackles. But there are other ways and means to compensate for it, like good organisation in closing the spaces, how we work as a team and through set-pieces. It was good that we could overcome our physical deficit.”
Cordova, while disappointed that Qatar were unable to defend their lead, said this is part and parcel of the process of developing his budding squad.
“When you score and are leading minutes from the end of the game, it feels like the equalising goal cost us points. But looking back, it was a very equal game. We got one point and that’s okay.
“We knew from the beginning that Iran are a good side and that the game was going to be very equal. The players showed really good commitment and I’m satisfied with their performance in the end.”
Qatar will face hosts Uzbekistan in their second match at the Pakhtakor Stadium tomorrow. The home team leads the group after a 1-0 victory against Turkmenistan in their first match on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Iran head coach Mehdi Mahdavikia was disappointed with the Qatar draw, but said he had a clearer picture of the improvement needed.
“We had a lot of opportunities but we couldn’t score, and this is a problem,” admitted the former Iranian international. “We were not surprised as Qatar played the way we had predicted. We understood them and I think we played really well against them.
“I think we lost two points. We were the better team in terms of possession. Qatar used the only opportunity they had in the game, but it was still good that we came back into the game with the equaliser. We hope to do better in the next match.
