AFC Women’s Asia Cup qualifiers:
Head coach Jafari hails Iran’s ‘commitment’ in statement win
Iranian head coach Marziyeh Jafari was pleased to see her team play with “high concentration and commitment” to get off to an emphatic start at the AFC Women’s Asia Cup qualifiers.
Iranian girls routed Singapore 4-0 in their Group A opener in Amman, Jordan, on Thursday to throw down the gauntlet to the host and other opponents in the five-team group.
Iran started right on the front foot at the King Abdullah II Stadium, with Afsaneh Chatrenoor and Zahra Qanbari going close before Fatemeh Shaban broke the deadlock in the 18th minute with a left-footed effort from inside the box.
Jafari’s girls had to wait until the 47th minute to double their lead, when substitute Zahra Alizadeh evaded her marker on the edge of the area before teeing up Sara Didar to slot the ball into the roof of the net.
Singaporean goalkeeper Izairida Shakira then had to be on her toes six minutes later to keep out Negin Zandi’s glancing header off Qanbari’s set-piece but Iran’s pressure was too much for the Southeast Asian side to handle as it conceded again in the 77th minute.
Atefeh Imani played the ball into space for Zahra Sarbali, whose shot from an acute angle led to Singapore’s Yasmine Zaharin turning the ball into her own net.
Iran capped off its fine start in the 86th minute courtesy of Qanbari, who exchanged passes with Didar before storming into the box and executing a composed finish.
Qanbari’s goal celebration, however, led to a second booking for the Iranian captain, who will be ruled out of Sunday’s massive game against Bhutan.
Having had to cope with less than perfect preparations coming into the qualifiers, Jafari, who was appointed to the job in May, was pleased with the debut victory on Iran’s bench.
“We achieved the result we wanted,” Jafari said after the game. “The first game always has its own special challenges – from weather issues to the team having to be in match conditions.
“It should also be taken into account that we did not have a warm-up game but our players nevertheless played with high concentration and commitment.
“The first game is always a bit difficult, because there is a need for more coordination, and we will certainly appear better and more coordinated in the future.”
The win took Iran into second place in the group table, three points adrift of Bhutan, which continued its perfect run with an impressive 2-1 victory over Lebanon later on Thursday.
Jordan is third in the table after defeating Lebanon by four unanswered goals on the first day of the group fixtures and will fancy another comfortable win against Singapore on Sunday.
Iran will then face Lebanon on Wednesday before squaring off against the host on Saturday.
Only one team from the group will progress to the Asian Cup finals in Australia next March.