A few days ago, the Iranian team wanted the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to postpone the quarter-final match with Japan to another time so that the players could have more time to rest.
Accordingly, the Iranian team went through an extremely tense round of 16 match with Syria on January 31. This match lasted 120 minutes and had to be decided on penalties. The Iranian team even had to strain due to playing with one less player (Tahremi received a red card at the end of the second half). The match ended when the clock struck nearly 22:00 (local time).
The Iranian Football Federation has asked the AFC to postpone the quarter-final match against Japan due to the players' difficulty in recovering their physical strength. " The federation requested to postpone the match against Japan due to the players not having enough rest. However, the AFC did not agree with this request and the match will go ahead as scheduled," said Mehdi Mohamednabi, head of the Iranian delegation .
Iran team wants to postpone match with Japan.
Japan also plays the Round of 16 on the same day as Iran but at an earlier time slot. Therefore, Iran hopes that Japan will agree to their request to move the match. However, there has been no request from Japan.
The Korean newspaper Best Eleven said: " The team that had the least rest in the quarter-finals was South Korea. They had not had a full three days rest when they had to play Australia but still won. South Korea also complained about the tight schedule but agreed to play according to plan. If the AFC agrees to Iran's request, they will face strong opposition from other teams, including South Korea ."
The match between Iran and Japan will take place tonight, February 3. Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand said the whole team will fight with spirit when their physical strength is not guaranteed.
" It's not easy to meet Japan after playing 120 minutes with Syria. You saw some of our players get cramps at the end of the match. However, the most important recovery is the spirit. I saw my teammates happy and positive, that's very important for the whole team, " the 31-year-old goalkeeper shared.
Van Hai
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