Iran manager Amir Ghalenoei praised Paulo Bento for building a strong UAE team following last night’s FIFA World Cup qualifier at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium.
Despite Iran’s 49-place advantage in the world rankings, the UAE held their ground for much of the match but struggled to create clear-cut chances, ultimately falling 1-0 in front of a raucous home crowd.
After the tight contest, Ghalenoei had high praise for Bento and his UAE side.
“I have a few points to say. First, I would like to congratulate Paulo Bento for an exciting, good game. I think it's a good team that the UAE manager has built,” said Ghalenoei.
“It indeed was a close and entertaining game and I thought the goal we scored to go into the break with the lead made all the difference. We play with a lot of planning.
“I think the UAE is one of the best teams in the group. We witnessed a good game and both teams played really well.”
After a fairly even first 45 minutes, Iran secured the lead on the stroke of halftime when Mehdi Ghayedi capitalised on a mistake by Khaled Ebraheem.
Ebraheem’s casual touch inside the box allowed Ghayedi to pounce, scoring with a deflected shot past a helpless Khalid Eisa.
As the second half unfolded, the UAE pushed for an equaliser, leaving themselves vulnerable to Iran’s counter-attacks.
The Lions of Persia had several golden opportunities to put the game to bed, with Ghayedi missing a chance to double his tally, and substitute Sardar Azmoun spurning two excellent opportunities to seal the win.
Iran nearly paid for their missed chances when the UAE were awarded a penalty with just four minutes remaining after Saleh Hardani was penalised for handball.
However, they breathed a sigh of relief when referee Kim Jong-hyeok reversed the decision upon reviewing the footage, which showed the ball had struck Hardani’s thigh instead.
“We were close to getting punished because in the first 60-70 minutes we lost a lot of scoring opportunities and UAE had good chances in the last 20 minutes for an equaliser,” said Ghalenoei.
“I'm happy that we didn't get punished though. Actually, this is a problem in our team that we are losing good scoring opportunities and losing a lot of possession in the attack.
“This is the only part in the match that we are not really satisfied. I'm not really satisfied about our players, but in general I think we are satisfied with the result and hopefully we can do better in the next matches.”
