Winning AFC Futsal Championship Title Iran Coach’s Best Moment in Life
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Head coach of Iran’s women’s futsal team Shahrzad Mozafar revealed her delight at winning the AFC Women’s Futsal Championship 2018, labeling the success a crowning accomplishment in her life.
The Iranians were magnificent in the final. Scoring five goals in the second half to blow Japan away with a 5-2 win.
It was their second successive title, but the first under Mozafar’s tutelage, and she shared her joy at taking her country to the top of the Asian women’s futsal mountain.
“I’m so happy at this moment. Actually, I’ve been waiting for this moment for many years. This is the best moment of my life,” Mozafar said in the post-match news conference.
“I think that was the best performance of our team. The final is always a really unique match. The players are stressed and you have to control it, so I want to thank all of my assistants and staff,” she added.
The 48-year-old also revealed the detail of her preparation for a match against a Japanese side which bore little resemblance to the one that won silver at last year’s Asian Indoor Games, where Iran finished third.
“In the past years we have had several matches with Japan, but in every tournament they have a different team,” she explained.
“Japan was so different from 2015 and also from the 2017 Asian Indoor Games in Turkmenistan. We could see some new players and new staff. We knew that this was a new team and that something had changed in them.
“I think their performance was fantastic in the semi-final against Thailand. We focused on their big two matches against China and Thailand, and they had a lot of set play tactics,” the Iranian coach stated.
“We were so ready for that, and we were also ready for the power play. I think it was a really brilliant performance from our defense in this match. We were able to score five goals because of how well we defended in the first half,” Mozafar said.
