Schmidt says fortune favoured Pirouzi

The Tehran club triumphed by a single goal, scored by Iranian international defender Yahya Golmohammadi in the 62nd minute, but the 55-year-old who joined Pirouzi in January having previously been chief scout with SV Hamburg, admitted that they did not necessarily deserve the win.

"We scored a lucky goal, but sometimes you need a little luck," he conceded. "Sometimes in football it is more important to score the goal than to play well. We were lucky in the second half. Maybe we didn’t play much better, but we were lucky."

Pirouzi were outplayed at times during the match, but managed to prevent the Iraqis from creating many chances due mainly to the superior physical strength of their defence.

"In the first half we had problems with them," said Schmidt, who praised Talaba’s veteran playmaker Habib Jafar. "They played very well and were very good technically. I congratulate them for the way they played. In the second half we closed down some of the room we had given them, closed down some of the space, and attacked with more speed."

Although Schmidt’s counterpart Thair Ahmed said Sunday’s constant rain had made the match difficult for his players, Schmidt added that the weather was not an excuse for his side’s disjointed performance.

"Rain sometimes belongs to the game. It’s normal sometimes to play in the rain. It was no problem for us. I can’t change the weather. At times it was difficult and the pitch was heavy, but I think my team can play in rain, snow or sunshine."

The German, whose CV also includes a successful two-year spell as an assistant at Bayern Munich and head coaching jobs with teams like Hanover 96, VFL Osnabruck, FC Magdeburg in Germany as well as a year with Saudi Arabian club Al Qadisiya, believes his team is capable of better performances in their remaining games, but will not be altering the way they approach their other games.

"It’s very difficult to change too much. The style we are working on is the way we will play for the tournament. We’ve worked on the players’ condition and our style of play in the few weeks since I arrived. Some of the players did perform in the style I wanted."

Pirouzi’s next task is to face the hosts Pakhtakor, who were impressive in defeating Nisa 3-0 in their opening match, on Tuesday

"Maybe it’s a problem for us because there is a short time for us to prepare and the first game for Pakhtakor was less demanding than ours. It’s difficult because we are here in Tashkent and the people here are for Pakhtakor, not Pirouzi. But if we want to reach the semi-final we have to overcome this."

However he rejected suggestion that these were the only genuine contenders for the coveted berth in the semi-finals.