Team Melli sealed a third win in a row, beating the United Arab Emirates 2-1 at Education City Stadium on Tuesday to top the group. Goals from Mehdi Taremi either side of the break put Iran in the driving seat, while an injury time strike from Yahya Al Ghassani halved the deficit and saw the UAE accompany their opponents into the knockout stage.

“I would like to thank all the fans who were at the stadium,” said Ghalenoei.

“We were unfortunate that we missed many chances and had three goals that were ruled out by VAR.

“We should be patient, calm and think about our Round of 16 opponents only. One of our biggest problems is ourselves; we are a very good team tactically and technically and if we can have a very good game every time, then we can go far.”

“I remember a conference in 2007 in Helsinki, where a speaker said you have to consider two factors in assessing your team’s structure.

“How many chances you created and how many chances your opponents created, and by these two measures we have done a good job in the group stage, and I think if our players can show their real quality in the knockout stage, we can be very dangerous.”

In the absence of suspended head coach Paulo Bento, who was sent-off in the previous match against Palestine, it was a familiar experience for his assistant Sergio Costa, who had found himself in the exact same position 14 months ago during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

In charge of Korea Republic back then, Costa took on the responsibility of the last group stage match at the same ground of Education City Stadium, helping the Taegeuk Warriors beat his home country Portugal 2-1, and it was also an injury time goal that secured their place in the Round of 16, then scored by Hwang Hee-chan.
On Tuesday, Al Ghassani’s late goal ensured the UAE finished Group C with a superior goal-difference than third-place Palestine to progress into the AFC Asian Cup knockout stage for the third consecutive time, having reached the semi-finals in 2015 and 2019.

“We were playing our match but at the same time we were keeping an eye on the match between Palestine and Hong Kong, China,” said Costa.

“It was a difficult match and a fair victory for IR Iran. We didn’t play well even though we accomplished our game plan. There was a moment where the game could have changed when we missed the penalty and conceded immediately after, but we tried to compete against one of the best teams in the tournament, and at the end we got the qualification ticket.

“Last time it was against our own country Portugal, in both times we were honoured to represent the countries of UAE and Korea but everything else was different, the opponents, the team we manage and the tournament. We would have preferred to have coach Bento here, but the most important thing is that the job is done.”

“It was a difficult match and a fair victory for IR Iran. We didn’t play well even though we accomplished our game plan. There was a moment where the game could have changed when we missed the penalty and conceded immediately after, but we tried to compete against one of the best teams in the tournament, and at the end we got the qualification ticket.

“Last time it was against our own country Portugal, in both times we were honoured to represent the countries of UAE and Korea but everything else was different, the opponents, the team we manage and the tournament. We would have preferred to have coach Bento here, but the most important thing is that the job is done.”