“I have a lot of respect for the Iranian media but some of them just want to weaken our team. We can win the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011 with support from the media and Iran’s football federation,” Afshin Ghotbi said.
Iran is scheduled to face Ukraine on August 11 in a warm-up game. Ghotbi said, “Playing against Ukraine will be a good match and I hope we can line up more such friendlies.”
Iran is holding a training camp in Austria now. The team was held to a 1-1 draw by Serbian Red Star Belgrade and defeated Hungarian Vasas SC in the camp. Iran will play Lazio on Wednesday.
The three-time Asian champion is preparing itself for the AFC Asian Cup which will be held in Qatar in January 2011.