Two quick-fire goals in the first half saw Iran win 2-0 at the Pathum Thani Stadium on Thursday and qualify as group winner for the knockout stage - their eighth time in 12 appearances and first since 2016, where they went on to finish as runners-up.
“Korea are a very good team and we saw that when we analyzed them before the match,” he said. “We had a gameplan to stop the team from attacking quickly and after that, we got the first goal and then got another one.”
“We closed down every aspect of their (attacking) game… I am proud of all the things they did tonight," the coach added.
“It was a very nice game with both teams playing tactically to attack and stop each other… I think it was one of the best matches of the tournament (so far),” he added.
Iran will meet Yemen in the quarter-finals while Korea Republic will face Thailand.