DOHA: Japan and Iran should have met in the Asian Cup final and not the quarters, Iranian coach Amir Ghalenoei said today, adding that the east Asian side are peaking at the right time after a surprise defeat in the group stage.
While Iran topped their group with maximum points, Japan finished second following a shock loss to Iraq. But Hajime Moriyasu's side were clinical in their last-16 win over Bahrain while Iran needed a penalty shootout to eliminate Syria.
Japan and Iran are the top two Asian nations in Fifa's world rankings.
"I think Japan and Iran should have played each other in the final but we're playing them now in the quarter-final," Ghalenoei told reporters ahead of tomorrow's game.
"The quality that Japan is showing in the knockout stage is much better than the group stage."
Ghalenoei also complained about the AFC's tournament schedule, saying they had very little time to recover for the game after they were taken to extra time against Syria. Both Japan and Iran played their last-16 ties on Wednesday.
"We had less recovery time than Japan. We should have finished the game against Syria in the 70th minute but we didn't take our chances and we had some bad luck," Ghalenoei said,
"I think the Fifa rule is minimum 72 hours (between games) but we didn't have enough time to recover for Japan. The first thing is the physical aspect and the second is recovery from the mental aspect too."
Iran keeper Alireza Beiranvand also complained about the lack of recovery time but praised their medical staff for preparing them for the game.
"It's not easy to play Japan after 139 minutes against Syria, some of our players had spasms. But what is important is how we recover mentally and I saw the players today, they're very happy," he said.
Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu said the quarter-final would be a "great spectacle" between two of Asia's top teams.
"It will be a tough match, it's a tough schedule. But we have to perform under the given circumstances. I think we're professional enough to do this," Moriyasu said.
"Iran have the same number of days to rest so it's the same, Japan may have had a little more time in terms of minutes.
"Everyone will pick Iran or Japan to win the tournament but we still have to fight to win this competition."
Iran will miss their tournament top scorer Mehdi Taremi (three goals) as he serves a suspension for a red card in the last-16 win over Syria.
"We're aware he's suspended but Iran have Sardar Azmoun as well as other great attacking options. They can cause any team problems," Moriyasu said as Japan look to keep their first clean sheet in the tournament.
"Our defensive line must concentrate 100%, but I won't deploy different tactics because Taremi isn't playing."-- Reuters