Who: Iran vs Qatar
what: AFC Asian Cup 2023 semi-finals
when: Wednesday, February 6, 2024, 6:00 PM (15:00 GMT)
where: Al Thumama Stadium, Doha, Qatar
Qatar coach Tintin Marquez Lopez said his country will face its “toughest test” in defending its Asia Cup crown when it faces Iran in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
The Spaniard had lamented the lack of time since the Maroons' horror victory over Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals on Saturday after extra time and penalties.
“In terms of preparing for the game, it was a very short time,” he said. “We only had two days to prepare.
“This will be our toughest match of the tournament.”
Qatar were undefeated in the 2019 season, but have yet to taste defeat in this tournament. In fact, the extra-time draw with Uzbekistan marked the first time in the 2023 tournament that they failed to win.
“I hope all the fans will be happy.”
Tarek Salman came on as a substitute in the 2-1 win over Palestine in the round of 16 and returned to Qatar's defense in the quarter-finals.
The defender echoed the coach's belief that recovery time is a concern and that the players who helped Uzbekistan to victory are feeling tired. But he hopes this opportunity will have an impact on the team.
“Everyone is excited. It's going to be physical against Iran,” Salman said.
“They have star players who play in the big leagues in Europe, so our motivation is 200 percent.
“We want to bring joy to our fans.”
• Passion, love, belief, work
The secret recipe is #alanabi Success 🇶🇦🤍#WinAsOne#Asian Cup 2023 pic.twitter.com/764OvGrpBR— Qatar Football Association (@QFA_EN) February 3, 2024
Meanwhile, Iranian midfielder Saeed Ezatollah questioned the AFC's appointment of an Arab referee for the Asia Cup semi-final against the hosts and defending champions.
Wednesday's semi-final will be hosted by Kuwait's Ahmad Al Ali. He was in charge of the two group matches and the best-16 tie match at this tournament.
“What was a bit of a surprise for us is that the referee for this match is from Kuwait and is an Arab,” Ezatollahi told reporters on Tuesday.
“We are left wondering how there is any possibility of having an Arab referee this match.
“But we are the Iranian national team and we are a very big team. We have very good players and we are professional.”
Despite having only two days to recover from their draw with Syria in the last 16, which ended in overtime and penalties, Iran defeated Asia's top team, Japan, 2-1 and advanced to the semi-finals.
Ezatolahi, like Lopez and Tarek, criticized the lack of recovery time in the knockout stages.
“In this tournament, especially in the knockout stage, the players did not have enough time to recover,” he said.
“Many of the players come directly from their clubs and are under a lot of pressure here.”
of #Asian Cup 2023 Semi-finalist!
🇯🇴🇰🇷🇮🇷🇶🇦#HayaAsia pic.twitter.com/itn7JTTx9Q
— AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 (@Qatar2023en) February 3, 2024
“We have to be strong no matter what happens.”
Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei reiterated that his team will have “less than 72 hours” of rest before facing Japan, and also addressed the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
“I can say that VAR was not very kind to us, at least in this tournament. There was a situation in the game against Japan where Sardar Azmoun could have been awarded a penalty, but VAR checked it and “They didn’t give me anything,” he said.
“But we have to be stronger than everything that's going on in this tournament.”
Iran defeated Qatar 4-0 in October, but Ghalenoei urged his team to forget past results as they aim to reach their first final since winning their third title in 1976. did.
“We have to forget the result against Qatar and the performance against Japan because they showed their high quality when they reached the semi-finals. It now belongs to history,” he said.
“We have to show more quality and we have to cover more distance compared to the game against Japan. I hope we can reach the final for the first time in nearly 50 years. I have a lot of trust in them.”
shape
Jordan has already lost once in the competition, when they faced Bahrain in the group stage. However, they have three wins compared to South Korea's two. The last two wins came within 90 minutes, and the previous two finals required overtime for South Korea.
Qatar: WWWWW
Iran: WWWWW
Qatar team news
Qatar have a well-suited squad to choose from, apart from some concerns over back-up keeper Salah Zakaria.
Predicted XI: Meshaal Barsham, Pedro Miguel, Mohamed Ward, Lucas Mendez, Almoez Ali, Tarek Salman, Jassem Garber, Hassan Alhaydos, Akram Afif, Ali Assad, Ahmed Fatih
iran team news
Iran have one of their star players back after Mehdi Taremi missed the quarter-finals due to suspension.
Sadegh Moharami is expected to miss out with a cruciate ligament injury, while Majid Hosseini is battling ankle pain.
Predicted XI: Alireza Beiranvand, Ramin Rezaeian, Milad Mohammadi, Saeed Ezatollahi, Hossein Khanani, Shoja Khalilzadeh, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Sardar Azmoun, Mehdi Taremi, Saman Ghodos, Mohammad Mohebi
