On Tuesday, Iran failed to reach the quarterfinals after losing to Morocco in a penalty shootout. In the 73rd minute of the match, Iran striker Esmaeil Gholizadeh opened the scoring for his team with a header. Morocco forward Nassim Azaouzi equalized the match during the second half’s stoppage time to move straight to a penalty shootout, which ended 4-1 in favor of Morocco.
“I apologize for the loss. Our players were exhausted in this match. We were forced to travel to Surabaya from Jakarta, while Morocco already was there,” Abdi said.
“We could have won the match but as I already said our players were tired. I congratulate my players on their good performance,” he added.
Iran made history by defeating defending champion Brazil 3-2 in its first match.
Hossein Abdi’s team then lost to England 2-1 in Group C but defeated New Caledonia 5-0 to secure its place in Round of 16.