What a turn! Queiroz lauds Iran’s winner

Saturday, 17 January 2015 03:41 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Carlos Queiroz worked with some of the best strikers in the world at Manchester United and Real Madrid and reckoned the turn that allowed Sardar Azmoun to score Iran’s winner at the Asian Cup on Thursday was worthy of any of them. Iran’s match against Qatar was deadlocked at 0-0 six minutes into the second half when Sardar took Ashkan Dejagah’s pass on the edge of the box and turned Almahdi Ali Mukhtar brilliantly before poking the ball into the net.

“Brilliant goal,” said Iran coach Quieroz. “It was a special movement of the centre forward. A great turn at the level of the best centre forwards I have worked with in my life. “The way he moved the ball was really brilliant. For a young player he has a great future in front of him.” Queiroz, who controversially left Sardar out of his squad for the World Cup last year, said he thought the ankle injury which forced the 20-year-old off the pitch after an hour on Thursday was not too serious. That was good news for Iran and their expat fans, who have lit up the tournament with their passion as the three-times champions have won their first two matches and secured passage to the quarter-finals. “We played a good game tonight and we are very thankful to all our fans who have been our 12th player in the last two games,” said Man of the Match Andranik Teymourian. “I want to thank all the Iranians in Australia who have been supporting the team and the fact that we have the second biggest supporters after the Socceroos in Australia. It’s an absolute privilege.” The Iranians next face the United Arab Emirates in Brisbane on Monday to determine who wins Group C and Queiroz said it was too early to talk about how far the team could go. “Our approach is to make it simple as much as possible. One day at each time,” the Portuguese said. “The mentality and attitude is the same. We want to try and win the game. We only want to think about the next game.”