Iran coach Shamsaei hails ‘hard work’ toward Asian futsal glory
Iran head coach Vahid Shamsaei was full of praise for his players for their “hard work and sacrifice” in winning a record-extending 13th Futsal Asian Cup title.
Mahdi Karimi, Saeid Ahamd-Abbasi, Ali-Asghar Hassanzadeh, and goalkeeper Baqer Mohammadi were all on the scoresheet, with Jirawat Sornwichian finding the net for Thailand, as Shamsaei’s men walked away with a 4-1 victory over the host in Sunday’s final in the Bangkok Arena.
The triumph came as redemption for the Iranian futsal great Shamsaei, who lifted the Asian trophy as a player on eight occasions but had to settle for a runner-up finish in his maiden tournament on the national team bench after a defeat against Japan in 2022.
“I remember the day I lost the 2022 final against Japan. I had to apologize to everyone, especially to the Iranian fans. Today, I’m happy that they stayed patient with me and I want to dedicate this trophy to everyone back home, especially my late father, who did not see me win the trophy as a head coach,” said Shamsaei.
“Reflecting on the previous tournament, despite scoring plenty of goals throughout, we ultimately lost in the final. This time, we maintained a high level of concentration,” added the three-time Asian Player of the Year.
“I want to express my deep appreciation to all my players for their sacrifice and hard work, especially during the holiday season when we chose to stay back and train.
“I’m incredibly grateful for the support from their families in allowing them to dedicate themselves to our shared goal. I firmly believe that it’s these sacrifices that have shaped our journey towards becoming champions of Asia.”
The Iranian coach insisted a balanced and experienced squad was key to the latest success for the Asian powerhouse.
“Changing a generation is very difficult. We started this tournament without our best player, Hossein Tayyebi, who was the top scorer in the previous edition, where we only had four players with Asian Cup experience. For this tournament, however, we only had five players with no experience in the competition,” said Shamsaei.
Next for the newly-crowned Asian champion is September’s Futsal World Cup in Uzbekistan and Shamsaei believes it takes far more effort to succeed in the global showpiece.
“We will now shift our focus to the World Cup. The preparations for that will be different, and we need decent support from the federation. I have had plenty of support from my team of advisors and assistant coaches,” Shamsaei added.
Meanwhile, prolific pivot Ahmad-Abbasi was thrilled to win the Most Valuable Player and Top Scorer awards in the event.
“I’m really grateful for being named the MVP and winning the top scorer award. The main reason behind these honors is our collective journey towards the championship trophy. From day one, we were united in pursuit of excellence and now that we’ve achieved it, I couldn’t be happier,” said Ahmad-Abbasi, whose goal against Thailand was his eighth in six outings in Bangkok.
“Scoring goals is just one aspect of the game for me. I do it for the team, not to chase individual targets. Contributing to my team’s success makes me happy and I want to dedicate these awards to the supporters here and back home who fueled our journey with their energy. These awards are also dedicated to my family.
“We have a mix of experienced and young players, we are ready to move forward and deliver at the World Cup.”
There was further individual success for the Iranian players in the awarding ceremony as Mohammadi was handed the Best Goalkeeper award.