AFC - Mohammad Khakpour has said his team needs to be wary of Qatar’s threat on the counterattack when Iran take on the AFC U23 Championship hosts on Friday in the second round of Group A matches.

Iran kicked-off their campaign with a 2-0 win over Syria in the competition curtain raiser at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium before Qatar came from a goal down to defeat China 3-1 in the later Group A fixture over at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium.

And having seen the AFC U23 Championship hosts come from a goal down to defeat the East Asians, after a double from skipper Abdulkarim Hassan and an Ahmed Al Aeldin strike cancelled out  Liao Lisheng’s opener, Khakpour has an clearer picture of how he will plan his strategy when Iran and Qatar face off at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.

“I saw Qatar so I know how they play and I know they are looking for counter attack,” Khakpour told www.the-afc.com at a training session on Wednesday.

“We have to be careful about that and we have to add some speed to our game too.”

The 46-year-old former international (pictured) was satisfied with his team’s performance in their opening win as the Iran defeated Syria 2-0 for a second time in Doha following their win by an identical scoreline in the final of the inaugural WAFF (West Asian Football Federation) U-23 Championship, which was also held at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium.

“The start was very important, especially when you have young kids playing. They are nervous and they are stressful.  You could see in first half both teams were stressed but in the second half we played much better we had control of the game.

“We knew the Syrian team pretty well. We analysed them and knew their key players and I totally believe we controlled the game over the 90 minutes.

“To start with first match with a win was what we were looking for and hopefully the other games are going to be the same result.”

And having made a solid start to the AFC U23 Championship and with the team starting to gel, Khakpour has his sights firmly set on a unique regional and continental double with another trophy win in Qatar.

“I’m happy with all of my players. We work as a team. We win as a team. We lose as a team,” said the former Pas and Persepolis defender, who ended his playing career in the USA with the MetroStars, the forerunner of New York Red Bull.

“We have set our mind in not just being one of those teams looking to qualify for the Olympic Games, we are looking to win the championship.

“Our goal is the championship. We worked so hard to get here and definitely we will work hard to win the tournament.”