Iran’s Ghalenoei returns to Qatar with high hopes

Iran head coach Amir Ghalenoei is eyeing a winning start when his side take on Palestine in their AFC Asian Cup Qatar opener on Sunday as he returns to the country where he played four decades ago.
The 60-year-old Iran boss had previously managed Team Melli in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, where they reached the quarter-finals, but he believes the game in Asia has made huge leaps since the tournament held in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
“I would like to say I’m very happy being in Qatar. I have very good memories here, I played here 40 years ago at Al Sadd Club and I have very happy memories here,” said Ghalenoei, who wore the colours of the Qatari giants between 1987 and 1989, leading them to two consecutive league titles.
“I believe this Asian Cup will be one of the best because Qatar has experience from the World Cup so they will organise a great competition. Asian football has improved significantly since 2007 as you could see in the last World Cup where three teams qualified to the Round of 16. We have very good international players and good players from our league also, and we will try our best in this tournament.”
The second highest ranked team in the tournament, Iran sit in 21st place in the most recent FIFA rankings, well above their opponents Palestine, ranked 99th, but Ghalenoei knows it will still be a difficult task for his side at the Education City Stadium.
“I believe the first match is very important and we are playing against a top team because they have very good players, they have a good defence, and they have achieved good results in recent friendly matches. Every match here will be like a final for us. Since I joined the national team, we have been in good condition and we will try our best to deliver a good performance and get good results in this tournament.”
Meanwhile, Palestine head coach Makram Daboub hailed his upcoming opponents as one of his favourites to win the title, but insisted his squad are relishing the challenge. “First of all, I would like to thank our brothers in Qatar for the hospitality and I congratulate them on the dazzling opening ceremony,” said Daboub.
“Iran are one of the best teams in the continent. They have a lot of top players and are a talented group. It’s between them, South Korea and Japan for the title in my opinion. Recently we played very well against Australia, Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia, so in one match, we fancy our chances, and we can dream of going through to the next round.”
The Tunisian tactician has been working in Palestinian football since 2010 before eventually being appointed head coach of the national team in 2021, and he believes his players are used to overcoming challenges.

Team Factbox
IRAN
FIFA Ranking: 21
Best finish: Champions (1968, 1972, 1976)
Coach: Amir Ghalenoei
Prospects: Heavyweights Iran are always among the favourites to win the Asian Cup and the three-times champions head into the competition on an unbeaten run of 12 games, with their last defeat coming over a year ago at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Mehdi Taremi’s poor club form with Porto may be the cause of some concern, but with six goals in his last six international games the striker set to flourish at the Asian Cup.

PALESTINE
FIFA Ranking: 99
Best finish: Group stage (2015, 2019)
Coach: Makram Daboub (Tunisia)
Prospects: Palestine’s preparations for the Asian Cup have been anything but smooth amid the conflict in Gaza and a first win in an Asian Cup match in their third finals campaign might be the realistic extent of their ambitions.
Despite their off-field worries, Palestine coached by Makram Daboub, have had some positive results in the last year, including a win over Bahrain.