Team Melli came from a goal down at the Education City Stadium in Doha to defeat the Samurai Blue thanks to two second-half goals from Mohammad Mohebi and Alireza Jahanbakhsh to reach the last four of the AFC Asian Cup for the second time in a row, with defending champion Qatar its next opponent, the-afc.com wrote.
“Asian football should be happy with this match, and we should be proud of the performance of our players who gave everything for the fans,” said Ghalenoei, who had led Iran to the quarter-finals of the 2007 edition.
“I want to say thank you to everyone who supported us along the way, thanks to my family for everything they endured in these years. This match can be a turning point for Iranian football, not just for the senior national team, but also for the U23s, U19s and the whole football setup,” he added.
“I think everybody should have the belief in Iranian people. We had a lot of great Iranian coaches in history who never got the chance to coach in Europe.
“If we want to have a higher standard of performance, we should have a long-term plan, infrastructure, stadiums and most importantly the support of the authorities in Iran,” Ghalenoei concluded.