5/16/2008
the-afc.com

BANGKOK – Coach Hossein Shams insisted he fully believed his side would come out on top after Iran edged out Japan 1-0 at Nimibutr Stadium to reach the final of the AFC Futsal Championships.

Vahid Shamsaee took advantage of a defensive error by Yusuke Komiyama to settle the contest just before half-time.

Having been out-played in the first-half, Japan mounted a sterling fight-back in the second and produced a late onslaught that saw Yuki Kanayama miss his side's best chance from point-blank range

And while it may have proved a nerve-racking finale for the boisterous crowd, Shams insisted he was never worried about the outcome of the contest.

"I was more than sure we would be winners of this game and if you count the chances, we had more and we missed many," he said.

"But at the same time, of course the game was a little bit tense, it was a semi-final, it had to be a bit nervous But we were knew exactly what to do step-by-step.

"We were winning 1-0 so we just wanted to invite them onto us and hit them on the counter-attack. We don't call it pressure."

However, Shams did underline it was a much-improved Japan side from the one they defeated in the final of the 2007 edition.

"Japan were quite different from last year," he added.

"They have worked a lot, they have brought in some new players, the systems they are using are advanced.

"But there is a distance between us and I think it will take a few years for them to catch up with Iran."

Japan coach Sergio Sapo was naturally disappointed to bow out having pushed the eight-time champions so hard but the Brazilian still paid tribute to his players' efforts.

"We lost but I'm very proud of the players and I want to thank each one of them for fighting until the very end of the game," he said.

"I knew beforehand that little things, little mistakes would affect the outcome of the game and so it proved.

"But I'm very proud of the players and I want to thank them for fighting until the end."

Sapo also had words of encouragement for Komiyama.

"The blame for the mistake does not fall on one player but the whole team so it's not one player who has to accept responsibility but the whole team," he added.