Iran improving insists Daei

AFC – Iran coach Al Daei believes his side is continuing to improve with every game as they defeated Kuwait 2-0 in their final Group Five game in 2010 World Cup qualifying to extend their unbeaten run to six games.

Captain Javad Nekounam opened the scoring with a left-foot screamer after 17 minutes at Azadi Stadium before Gholamreza Rezaei sealed the win with a strike in injury time.

It means Iran top the group by four points ahead of Friday's draw for the final round of qualifying.

Daei was forced into a number of changes due to the unavailability of some his regulars but he was admitted he particularly pleased with his defenders.

"Our defence continued to play well and we haven't conceded in the last four matches,” he said.

"In the first half we were the better team and we had a lot of chances in the second half as well which we didn't take."

The win was Iran's third in a row and Daei believes their good form shows the players are starting to understand each other more on the pitch.

"This shows that we're getting to know each other and we'll continue to improve in the future,” he added.

“We still have some weaknesses which we need to look at in time for the next round.”

Kuwait boss Mohammad Ibrahim, meanwhile, was magnanimous in defeat and backed Iran to go on to taste further success.

The defeat left Kuwait bottom of the standings but Ibrahim refused to blame his players, instead declaring he was satisfied with their performance.

"I want to congratulate Iran for reaching the next round and I hope that they can return to their former strength,” he said.

"They (Iran) were physically stronger than us throughout the match but we were without six first-team players so I had to select some very inexperienced boys.

"I've worked with these players for the last 20 days and they played well so I'm satisfied with the performance."