Star InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar Inactive

AFP - DEFENDING champions Iran aim to clinch a fourth Asian Games football crown today and dedicate victory to the man whose goal-scoring prowess will be sorely missed in the showdown with Japan. 

Veteran striker Ali Daei returned home last week after the death of his father and the absence of his cutting edge meant that Iran struggled through their semi-final against South Korea where they had to come through via a penalty shoot-out. 

However, coach Branco Ivancovic pledged that his team would rise to the occasion in the gold medal match and dedicate victory to the grieving Daei. 

“Ali Daei is a legend of the game in Iran and he is a great captain,” said Ivancovic. 

“Iranians are an emotional people and the players are determined to win him a gold medal to ease his pain.” 

The Croatian has seen his team score just once in their last two matches. 

“We know we have a goal-scoring problem but this is a problem all over Iran, and not just in the youth team. A goal scorer is born that way and it is in his genes to score. I can’t teach anyone how to score and make him great,” he said. 

Iran’s progress to the final is remarkable as it came against a background of turmoil on the eve of the Games. 

Despite beating Paraguay to win the four-nation LG Cup on home soil in September, the wounds of only finishing third in the West Asian Football Federation Championship were widened a little more by the resignation of Mohsen Safaee Farahani as Iran FA president. 

Even worse for the country’s passionate fans was having to swallow the bitter pill of a defeat by Iraq. 

Japan too had their problems going into the event with the Under-21 team, suffering a 0-7 defeat by Jubilo Iwata and then a 0-1 loss to their Chinese counterparts in friendly matches. 

“When we lost 0-7 to Jubilo, we took a lot of criticism but we tried not to worry about what people were saying,” said coach Masakuni Yamamoto, whose side reached the final with an impressive 3-0 win over Thailand. 

“It was a bad defeat, but we just had to start from scratch again. The players have responded well and now we have made history by making the final for the first time.” 

Japan have fielded a squad of Under-21 players unlike the rest of the teams taking part here, who have stuck to the Under-23 guidelines, spiced up with the odd over-age heavyweight to add a touch of know-how. 

They may find they could do with a little bit of old-fashioned expertise when they come up against Iran. 

“Although we defended well against the Thais and didn’t panic, we will still look at the match and see which areas need to improve because Iran are a very big, powerful side,” said Yamamoto. 

“They have a lot more experience than us so it will be a very difficult match but we must remember that just getting this far is a tremendous achievement.”

Top