Daei vows to play on

Yomiuri - Asian football legend Ali Daei has said he will continue to represent his native Iran, at least for the foreseeable future.

The 35-year-old former Asian Player of the Year scored twice as the Iranians defeated Bahrain 4-2 on Friday evening to finish third at the Asian Cup for the second time in three tournaments.

"We should have been in the final because we have a good team," Daei told The Daily Yomiuri.

"We should have won in the semifinals but the referee helped the Chinese team. He should have given one of their players a red card and given us a penalty, but this is finished and now we have to look to the future."

Daei has had an illustrious career. He was top scorer at the Asian Cup in 1996 and was named Asian Player of the Year in 2000 during a top level career in Europe with Bayern Munich, with which he reached the UEFA Champions League final in 1999, and Hertha Berlin.

In over a decade as a player he has scored close to a century of international goals, but was never on the winning side in an Asian Cup final.

"I'm now 35 and I think that was my last Asian Cup," he said. "But I'm glad God helped me and to score twice tonight is great for me.

"Now we have to try to be in the World Cup. We have to go, but it's going to be hard. We lost to Jordan in Tehran and we have to play them in Jordan. I hope we can win and then look forward from there."

The Iranians trail Mahmoud El Gohary's team in Group 1 of Asia's World Cup qualifying tournament after losing 1-0 in Tehran and anything but victory in the return clash in Ammam on Sept. 8 will effectively eliminate the 1998 World Cup finalists.

Iran coach Branko Ivankovic praised Daei--a one-time transfer target for Jubilo Iwata--and said he hoped he would remain with the team.

"He's most famous player in Asia," said the Croatian. "His leadership qualities, enthusiasm and strong will are invaluable to us and I hope he will carry on playing for a little longer. He's an excellent role model and a valuable servant to Iranian football."