Iran's Jahanbakhsh Dreams of Winning AFC Asian Cup Title
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iran international winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh dreams of winning the 2019 AFC Asian Cup with Team Melli.
Iran has long been a powerhouse nation in Asia, but remarkably it’s been 42 years since Team Melli won the AFC Asian Cup, winning the last of its three titles on home soil in 1976.
“After the World Cup the 2019 AFC Asian Cup is the biggest tournament for our country and for the people who follow football in Iran. I’m really looking forward to this tournament because last time, unfortunately, we went out on penalties and that wasn’t something that we wanted,” Jahanbakhsh said in an interview with the-AFC.com.
“But this time we have a better team, we have a better situation and hopefully we can have a better experience and we can do something extra to make Iranian people happy,” he added.
Asked him are there any teams he is hoping to avoid or any teams he would like to play against, AZ Alkmaar striker said, “It’s difficult to say because every team in Asia is improving, they just want to get better and better and now they have several months to prepare themselves for the Asian Cup. So it’s difficult to pick this team or that team, we just go there and first we see which teams we have to play against.”
“The easiest is always the best, but in my opinion there is no easy team in the Asian Cup, because as I said all the teams are trying to grow up, to get better and better. They bring in new coaches from Europe to [help them] develop, so it’s not that easy.
“In the last couple of years we’ve been number one in Asia and that means a lot for Iranian fans. The Asian Cup is a big tournament for football fans back in Iran and they’re really looking forward to it. With the upcoming games we have for preparation for the World Cup – and the three games we’re going to play at the World Cup – that gives us even more experience, facing the best teams in the world to get ready for having a good Asian Cup,” he stated.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve been champion of Asia, so hopefully this time with such a team and such a coach we can make this dream come true. There are also some really good teams in Asia that are always favorites to become champion, so it’s not going to be easy, but we’re going to do our best to go as far as possible and achieve a really nice result for the Iranian people, because they really deserve it,” Jahanbakhsh concluded.
