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."
