Red-card rush worries fiery Iran coach

AFP - Fiery Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei on Tuesday promised to curb his temper in the heat of the Asian Cup after his Qatar counterpart saw red in the opening round of matches.

Ghalenoei, known for his combustible nature while at league side Esteghlal, said he was well aware of the unpredictable nature of Asian football ahead of Iran’s Group C opener against Uzbekistan on Wednesday.

“Football brings a lot of different situations and conditions. For example, the head coach of Qatar who has a lot of experience was sent off,” said Ghalenoei.

“One coach who has 25 years’ experience told me every match was different. So I will try my best to control my temper during the tournament.”

Qatar coach Dzemaludin Musovic was sent packing after protesting against a straight red card shown to Hussain Yaser in the dying moments of their surprise 1-1 draw with Japan on Monday.

Ghalenoei became notorious for his touchline antics in the Iranian league, remonstrating with players and officials as he took Esteghlal to second, third and finally first place during his three seasons in charge.

He said Iran had noted none of the favourites had won its opening match and they were not taking Uzbekistan, the 1994 Asian Games champions, lightly.

But he also said Iran had undergone special training to cope with the tropical Southeast Asian conditions blamed for sluggish starts by Australia and Japan.

“We are well aware of the results in these first matches and it shows that Asian teams are getting very close to each other and matches are getting hard for good teams,” Ghalenoei said.

“When we arrived we had a special programme knowing Malaysia is a difficult climate with its high humidity. So we started with physical fitness training.

“Some people in the media questioned that but we needed it with the Malaysian weather.”

Ghalenoei also played down expectations that Iran would take their free-scoring style into the Asian Cup after hammering Jamaica 8-1 this month.

“We scored eight goals but we’re not thinking about that. Uzbekistan is a good and strong team,” the coach said.

Ghalenoei took over after last year’s winless World Cup with the task of guiding Iran to their first continental title in 31 years.

Iran won three in a row from 1968 to 1976 but have not made the final since, going out three times on penalties.

Team Melli also play China and co-hosts Malaysia in a tough Group C.