Tabatabaei, “Terrible pressure on us”

PLDC - Hadi Tabatabaei, Esteghlal Tehran goalkeeper, commented on receiving two goals after the 2-1 loss of his team to Naftchi in Uzbekistan in the Asian Clubs Super Cup return leg, “We scored one goal against Naftchi 
in Tehran and went to Uzbekistan with a weak result. The Uzbek players had a stronger motivation to score and so they played with all their might.”

“Having scored a goal in the first half, Naftchi naturally put on more pressure and scored two goals against us. They then only needed one goal to qualify. The grass was not good and the pitch was too close to the stands and the fans were supporting Naftchi all the time which put terrible pressure on us.”

“In the 94th minute, I was one-on-one against an Uzbek striker, but I fortunately caught the ball and prevented the opponents from scoring and qualifying.”