Under-fire Daei defends his role

AFC - Under-fire Iran skipper and world record goalscorer Ali Daei has blamed the team’s midfield generals for their 3-1 loss to Mexico in the FIFA World Cup 2006 Group D opener on Sunday.

In an exclusive interview with www.the-afc.com, Daei, who is taking a lot of flak from the Iranian press, said the strikers couldn’t do much as the midfielders didn’t feed them and this in turn put pressure on the team. “I did what I was told to do by the coach (Branko Ivankovic) but we (Daei and Vahid Hashemian) just didn’t get any passes from midfield,” said the 37-year-old star who has scored a record 109 international goals in 148 matches. “We had no chance of scoring in such circumstances.”

“Why do you say I was inactive?” said Daei, after Iranian media questioned his role in the debacle. “Everytime Mexico took a freekick or corner I rushed back to help the defenders.”

“Everytime we lose I am blamed.”

Daei, who plays for Iranian heavyweights Saba Battery, said the team which made lesser mistakes won. “In football, if you make mistakes the other team wins. We made mistakes and they won.”

“Mexico’s two early second half substitutions proved to be the turning point as they got two pairs of fresh legs,” said Daei, who made his debut for Iran against Oman way back in 1993. “This changed the way the game was going.”

Team Melli’s captain also defended goalkeeper Ibrahim Mirzapour. “He is not to blame alone, particularly for the second goal. There were defenders in the box too,” said Daei.

“Portugal is our last chance to stay alive and advance to the round of 16,” said Daei, who is struggling with a back injury. “We can win. It is still not sure if I will be able to play or not. We will have to wait and see a day before the match.”

Iran play Portugal in their second Group D game on June 17 in Frankfurt.