Fekri, “Referee was unfair”

PLDC - After the Naftchi – Esteghlal match in Uzbekistan, in which Esteghlal of Tehran qualified to the next round of the Asian Clubs Super Cup despite their loss to the hosts, Mahmood Fekri (Esteghlal defender) said, 
“We had gone to Uzbekistan to qualify to the next leg. We played well in the first half and had two or three opportunities to score goals. If we had paid more attention, we would have scored three goals. 

“The referee also took the side of Naftchi and made problems for us. As soon as we were in possession of the ball and began to move against Naftchi, the referee blew his whistle and stopped us. Naftchi was a good team and was physically strong. They were playing at home and had nothing to lose and everything to gain. They naturally put us under pressure and kept attacking.”

“We lost because of the pressure on us and the sensitivity of the match. Under normal circumstances we would have won easily. We are unlucky because we are in a tough group but we have played against the other 3 teams before and have defeated them. I think we can do it again this time too. I hope we can qualify into the next round and make Iran proud of us.”

In the 1/8 round of the Asian Clubs Super Cup Esteghlal and Persepolis have been placed into the following groups:

Group Three: Al Halal (Saudi Arabia), Al Ein (UAE), Esteghlal Tehran (Iran) and Al Saad (Qatar)

Group Four: Persepolis (Iran), Al Talabeh (Iraq), Nissa (Turkmenistan), Pakhtokor (Uzbekistan)