Head coach Carlos Queiroz believes Iran deserved better from Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat to Spain but insists his players are still dreaming of qualifying from Group B.
Iran clinched a surprise 1-0 victory over Morocco in their opening World Cup match and that win effectively handed the Middle East outfit two shots at reaching the last-16 of the tournament.
The first chance came against 2010 champions Spain, who drew 3-3 with Portugal in their first match, on Wednesday night and it was a very tight affair.
Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa, who is 5.50 to win the Golden Boot, fortuitously grabbed his third goal of the World Cup to hand La Furia Roja a narrow 1-0 win and leave them on the verge of reaching the first knockout stage.
Iran now have one more chance to qualify as they prepare to take on Portugal and Queiroz, who was in charge of A Selecao das Quinas from 2008-2010, says his side are still fighting.
“We were ready to suffer and ready to compete and ready to try our chances to win the game. Football is not like this but it is fair to say we deserved a better result,” he said.
“But this was our first match point, if we compare this to tennis, our second match point comes against Portugal. We’re still alive and dreaming.”
Iran are the 5.50 outsiders to win the clash on Monday, a draw is priced at 3.60 whilst Portugal, led by four-goal talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, are the firm 1.70 favourites.
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