Shahr Khodro Coach Aims to Advance from ACL Group Stage

The Iranian club prevailed 5-4 on penalties against Qatar’s Al Sailiya FC after 120 minutes at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium Tuesday night.

Goalkeeper Mahdi Rahmati was the hero for Shahr Khodro, producing a brilliant shootout save to deny countryman Karim Ansarifard before Saeid Sadeghi struck the decisive blow to take his team through.

“The match saw a strong performance from both teams,” said Henri. “We tried our best to end the match in regular time.

“We are happy to qualify to the group stage. The players put in a lot of effort despite the fact that they were tired after playing on Saturday and arriving to Doha on Monday.”

The win places Shahr Khodro in Group B alongside reigning champions Al Hilal SFC, Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor and Shabab Al Ahli Dubai of UAE and Henri believes his side have a chance to advance to the knockout stage.

“There is no doubt that the group is strong but this should not affect us,” he said. “We should play with all our strength in order to qualify from the group and continue in the competition.”