Iran was badly beaten by Bahrain 4-2 last week, and was held to a goalless draw against Uzbekistan on Saturday.
“Iran has yet to defeat Bahrain on their soil. We lost to the team 3-1 in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. Iran was beaten by Bahrain last year in a friendly as well. It is not fair to criticize our team,” he said in a news conference held in Iran’s Football Federation.
Ghotbi cited the lack of facilities in Iranian football as a reason for the losses, and said, “Iran doesn’t have well-organized facilities compared to other countries, for example Uzbekistan. They will be among the best eight Asian teams in the near future.”
“We should not be afraid of playing with the strong teams. We have to change our view of football to reach big goals,” the coach stated.