PLDC - Hadi Tabatabaei, Esteghlal Tehran goalkeeper, commented on receiving
two goals after the 2-1 loss of his team to Naftchi in Uzbekistan in the Asian Clubs Super Cup return leg, “We scored one goal against Naftchi
in Tehran and went to Uzbekistan with a weak result. The Uzbek players had a stronger motivation to score and so they played with all their
might.”
“Having scored a goal in the first half, Naftchi naturally put on more pressure and scored two goals against us. They then only needed one
goal to qualify. The grass was not good and the pitch was too close to the
stands and the fans were supporting Naftchi all the time which put terrible pressure on us.”
“In the 94th minute, I was one-on-one against an Uzbek striker, but I fortunately caught the ball and prevented the opponents from scoring and
qualifying.”
