Tasnim - Coach Abbas Chamanian hailed Iranian football team's fighting spirit after advancing to the AFC U-16 Championship final.

Iran ousted AFC U-16 Championship holder DPR Korea 6-5 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in Thursday’s semi-final to set up a date with Iraq in Sunday’s final.

“DPR Korea are a very strong team and our players had to fight hard to win this match,” said Chamanian.

“We played very well in the first half but they began to control the midfield in the second half and we lost our confidence,” he added.

“Then DPR Korea scored the equalizer so we had to try and fight back again and at the end we had two great chances that the players didn’t take,” Chamanian stated.

Iran had earlier topped Group A ahead of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and host India after two wins and a draw were enough to see them advance to the last eight above the Emiratis on goal difference.

Then with a place at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup at stake, the Iranians produced a dominant performance to defeat Vietnam 5-0.

“We have been practicing penalties for three months, but it is also very important at this age to take first as it allowed us to control the shootout. We are very, very happy to win this game and now we can look forward to the final,” concluded Chamanian.