Daei laments Iran loss to Jordan

AFC - AFC Player of 1999 Ali Daei told Jahane newspaper Iran should have won their Asian Cup Group D qualifying match if the Tehran giants had played just that little better against Jordan. 

Iran went down to a shock 3-2 loss away at Amman last Friday, the Persians not doing their Asian Cup credentials any good with that result, more so after they had uncharacteristically thrown away a goal lead to end up on the losing side. 

Iran may still hold pole position in Group D but are now tied with three points alongside Lebanon and Jordan, the former having played one game less. 

Daei, the striker who was at one point linked with a move to China, is adamant Iran have the right attributes to do better but for a lack of cohesion, and with Jordan playing above themselves in front of their partisan home crowd, Iran were never allowed to take control of the tempo of the game. 

"We only played well for about 10 minutes. We were not able to execute what we had practiced in training. Our players did not cover each other the way they should have and we lost due those facts," said the former Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin star. 

"We played bad, no question about it. Jordan played better and there is not much difference between the two teams. 

"If we had performed slightly better, we would not have lost."