{"id":27695,"date":"2017-04-08T10:53:16","date_gmt":"2017-04-08T17:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/?p=27695"},"modified":"2017-04-08T10:53:16","modified_gmt":"2017-04-08T17:53:16","slug":"khosravi-vietnam-match-means-everything-to-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/2017\/04\/08\/khosravi-vietnam-match-means-everything-to-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"Khosravi: Vietnam match means everything to Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

AFC – HANOI, The future trajectory of women\u2019s football in the Islamic Republic of Iran depends on the country\u2019s do-or-die match against Vietnam, according to national team captain Koueistan Khosravi.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking exclusively to the the-AFC.com, Khosravi explained that the match against Group D\u2019s host nation represents much more than just three points for her team.<\/p>\n

\u201cSunday’s game is historically important for us,\u201d emphasised the cultured defender.<\/p>\n

\u201cDepending on how we perform, everything will either move forward or go backwards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran came into the qualifiers without a FIFA ranking due to a prolonged absence from international football, and got off to a nightmare start, conceding a goal just four minutes into their first match before eventually losing 2-0 to Myanmar.<\/p>\n

But Maryam Azmoun\u2019s side recovered well to beat Singapore 6-0, with their technical proficiency and flair winning them admirers from Hanoi to Tehran, something that will continue with a win against Vietnam, according to Khosravi.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are already very excited about our women\u2019s football team getting back on the field, and with a win on Sunday the support we have been getting will get stronger and we\u2019ll get stronger sponsors,\u201d said the 30-year-old.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why Sunday\u2019s game is so crucial for us. What happens next will depend on whether we go back as winners or losers.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the importance of the match is clear, Iran\u2019s opponents will be in no mood for charity, with Vietnam beginning the tournament in ruthless fashion thanks to an 11-0 win against Syria, before a team comprised largely of squad players put eight more past Singapore.<\/p>\n

But while Mai Duc Chung\u2019s outfit are considered warm favourites for the fixture, Khosravi says her team is full of belief that they can pull off the upset of the tournament by beating Vietnam on home soil.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery team in the world has strengths and weaknesses,\u201d said the inspirational skipper.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been analysing everything about them. We\u2019ve got very good coaches who have been helping us to understand them. Hopefully we can put them under pressure and hit them where it hurts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo: Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AFC – HANOI, The future trajectory of women\u2019s football in the Islamic Republic of Iran…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26307,"featured_media":27696,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[90,84,91,86,155],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c17-asian-competitions","category-c47-featured-news","category-c20-other-news","category-c13-team-melli-news","category-womens"],"views":3758,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26307"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}