Ivankovic breathes sigh of relief

AFC - Iran coach Branko Ivankovic sent out a vote of thanks to his suspension- hit side as the three-time champions put the problems of the past few days behind them to claim a 0-0 draw with Japan that kept their Asian Cup hopes alive on a night when they very easily could have been on the first flight back to Tehran.

“As you know, we had some problems before the match so I appreciate that my players played very well,” said Ivankovic, who was without three first-choice defenders who had been suspended following incidents in Iran’s 2-2 draw with Iran.

“With the exception of Ali Daei and Mehdi Mahdavakia, few of the players have had the experience of this kind of game before. As you all saw this was one of the most attractive matches so far, and both teams were tactically sound.”

The four-match suspension of Mohammad Nosrati and the two-match bans for Rahman Rezaei and Ali Badavi dominated the headlines in the build up to the match, with many observers wondering in what mood the highly emotive Iranians would enter the match.

As it transpired the sense of injustice prevalent in the camp seemed to galvanise the squad as they sought to take all three points and avoid World Cup semi-finalists Korea Republic in the quarter-finals.

“Iranians are famous for playing emotionally but the incidents of the Oman game were forgotten,” said Ivankovic.

“As you saw nothing similar happened in this match and after sorting out the suspension issue among ourselves, I was pleased that everything we talked about off the pitch was applied on the pitch.”

Any thoughts of an intriguing clash between Ivankovic’s hastily reassembled back line and Zico’s decimated forward line came to nought, as the Japanese attack rarely clicked.

After holding the early initiative it was the Iran took a stranglehold of the game as they charged forward at pace. A scenario that Zico had already taken into account.

“Today Japan could have had two acceptable results,” said the Brazilian. “The first was a win and the second was a draw. At first we wanted the win but when Iran began attacking us strongly, we changed our plans as we didn’t have to risk going forward and have the Iranians getting a goal on the counter.

“This shows that this team can adapt and play to any situation.”

For the third successive Japan match, local fans unashamedly showed that they are not exactly fans of the defending champions. But while every blue-shirted player was roundly booed whenever they touched the ball, Zico is more than happy to being staying in Chongqing as Group D winners.

“This was a very tough game and we achieved our goal in a difficult situation,” said the Brazilian. “Our goal was to top the group and stay here in Chongqing for the quarter-finals.

Japan await the arrival of Asian Cup surprise package Jordan, who finished runners-up to Korea Republic in Group B, while the Iranians must head to Jinan for a tough encounter against China 2004’s form horses, Korea.