Iran, a team that has gathered many stars playing in Europe's top leagues, suffered an unexpected defeat in the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup, losing to hosts Qatar by a score of 2-3. On the field of play on Wednesday (7), head coach Ghalinei faced the nation and sincerely apologized to the nation, announcing that he would take full responsibility for the team's loss, while he pinned his hopes on injecting fresh blood into the team ahead of the next World Cup.
Galinei, in the post-match press conference, first apologized to the Iranian fans: I would like to apologize to the Iranian people for not being able to bring you the joy of victory today. Thanks to the efforts of all the players, we showed the best performance in the second half of this year's tournament, but missed too many opportunities. In the world of soccer, you pay the price if you don't take your chances. He noted that traditional soccer powers such as Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Japan and Australia are already out of the tournament, and recognized Iran's performance on the technical level. However, he described the day as the most painful moment of his life and emphasized that he would take responsibility for his team's exit: the responsibility for the loss of this tournament does not lie with the players or the football federation, I want to take full responsibility.
The Iranian team is seen as one of the favorites to win the tournament, with star players at the peak of their careers such as Tanimi and Asmund, who are regarded as Iran's new golden generation. Unfortunately, this Persian army still lost the title in this tournament. As one of the highest average age teams in this competition, only four people in the Iranian team are younger than 26 years old. Galinei also admitted that this tournament may be the last battle of some veterans in their national team careers.
