After the draw with Belgium, coach Amir Ghalenoei stated that the result will be “talked about for generations” in Iran.
“Six months ago, we were in the middle of a war, our league wasn’t working. Everyone knows about our visa situation. We arrived at the World Cup in the worst possible conditions. It’s a great achievement not to lose two games and this will be written in the history of our football”, he said.
Even without finding the net, Ghalenoei said the match was “very beautiful”. “We faced one of the ten best teams in the world, with high quality players,” he said. The coach also praised goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand, voted man of the match after holding off the Belgian pressure.
Ghalenoei once again complained about the logistics imposed on the Iranian delegation. According to him, players will only have a few hours to recover before embarking on a 16-hour journey, with two connections. “I don’t believe there is another team in the world facing a similar situation,” he said, before praising the squad’s commitment. “They’re playing with their hearts.”
Just as he had done on the eve of the match, the coach expressed hope that the team would have more time to prepare for the clash against Egypt in Seattle.
On the Belgian side, coach Rudi Garcia adopted a speech of confidence despite the team’s second consecutive draw in the World Cup. According to him, the team’s situation in Group G is clear: “there is no alternative other than winning the last game”. The coach stated that the Belgians will need to defeat New Zealand in the final round to advance to the knockout stages and demonstrated his conviction that the team will qualify. “We’re going to want to win, we’re going to need to win and we’re going to get through the group stage,” he declared.
When analyzing the goalless draw, Garcia considered that Belgium let a victory slip away. For him, the team created enough opportunities to win the three points, but was hampered by Beiranvand’s performance. “There were two points lost for the game, because the best on the field was Iran’s goalkeeper,” he said.
Asked about the pressure after the two draws, the coach avoided dramatizing the situation. He said that the moment requires work and concentration for the decisive round. “As they say in cycling, it’s time to put your head down on the handlebars and pedal,” he said. According to him, the team needs to focus its energy on recovering the players and preparing for the match against New Zealand.
Garcia also pointed to the lack of efficiency as the main explanation for the result. Despite territorial dominance and offensive volume, Belgium was unable to transform the chances created into goals. “The keyword tonight for Belgium is lack of efficiency”, he summarized.
