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Afcasiancup - Iran legend Ali Karimi has
hailed his side’s motivation after they impressively came from behind to
beat Uzbekistan 2-1 in their opening AFC Asian Cup 2007 Group C clash at the
Bukit Jalil National Stadium on Wednesday.
Second half goals from Seyed Jalal Hosseini and substitute Javad Kazemian,
in reply to an early own goal from Rahman Rezaei, proved enough to give Iran
an important win that Karimi attributes to the determination on show
throughout the Team Melli camp.
“A win in the first match of any tournament is always a gift, so in that
respect we have got a gift here against Uzbekistan. Having said that though,
we will still have to do well in our other games,” said the 28-year-old
former AFC Player of the Year.
“The goal we conceded was a mistake by our own player, but after that error
we pulled ourselves together, attacked very well and eventually won the
game.
“We were very motivated to win against Uzbekistan, quite simply we came to
win, that was what we thought and that was what we achieved.”
With many observers backing Iran to lift their fourth continental title,
Karimi also revealed that the side’s desire to succeed is a direct result of
their last Asian Cup experience some three years ago in China.
“Without a doubt, we are one of the top teams here at the Asian Cup,”
revealed the Karaj-born star, who recently joined Qatar Sports Club after a
two-year spell in Germany with Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.
“As I said before, we have come here to win. We want to improve on the third
place we achieved at the last Asian Cup in China. Our aim is to get to the
final and win this tournament.”
Having seen several of the teams at this year’s event in South East Asia
struggle to cope with the hot and humid weather, Karimi explained that
despite the far from ideal conditions, Iran would not be deterred from
achieving their ultimate aim.
“The conditions are very similar to the one we experienced three years ago
in China,” he said.
“Back then we managed to acclimatise but of course there has been a big gap
between then and now, so we are trying to get ourselves together.
“The conditions are the same for every team here. We just want to do our
very best no matter what the weather is like and win the Asian Cup.”
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