Shenaishil hails Mahmood after Iraq win
Canberra (IraqiNews.com) Iraq coach Radhi Shenaishil hailed his team’s “leader” Younis Mahmood after the captain played a key role in the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 quarter-final victory over Iran at Canberra Stadium on Friday.
The experienced striker scored early in extra-time to put his side 2-1 up after team-mate Ahmed Yasin had cancelled out Sardar Azmoun’s opener in regulation time.
The additional 30 minutes then saw three more goals as Morteza Pouraliganji, Dhurgham Ismail and Reza Ghoochannejhad netted in a 3-3 score-line that sent the tie to penalties.
Mahmood was then thrust back into the spotlight when he stepped up to take the fifth spot-kick for Iraq and showed ice-cold composure, and no little impudence, to nail a panenka to see his nation into the sudden-death stage of the shoot-out, ultimately won by Iraq 7-6 as Salam Shakir scored the winner after Iran’s Vahid Amiri hit the post.
“Younis essentially played four halves today and he played amazing,” said former Iraq international Shenaishil.
“We have a young squad and we need a leader. He’s the type of player that opponents hate to play against and teammates love to play with. “There was some doubt in the media about whether he should play or not, but I don’t listen to them. As a coach I see what the player produces during training time and on the field. “I wish him all the best; he’s a star and important for Iraq.” Along with Mahmood’s presence on the field, the Iraq coach felt that Iran’s lack of composure was a key advantage for his side.
According to Shenaishil, Mehrdad Pooladi’s sending off after the 42nd minute of the tie swung the momentum in Iraq’s favour despite them being a goal down. “I think the red card maybe meant their players lost some concentration. They were leading 1-0 and they should have been more relaxed,” he said.
“I have all respect for the Iran team but they had too much pressure on them as players in the match.”
Iraq’s thrilling quarter-final triumph earns them a semi-final meeting with Korea Republic at Sydney’s Stadium Australia on Monday and Shenaishil now turns his attention to what will be another tough test for the 2007 winners.
“Our main goal now is recovery. We played four halves in this game and the main thing now is recovery ahead of the semi-final,” said Shenaishil, who is on loan to the Iraq national team from Qatar Sports Club.
“I think teams like Korea Republic and Australia are teams that are here to win the Asian Cup. But the four teams in the semi-finals all have the same chance to get to the final. The quarter-final stage is completely different. “There is a lot of history with Korea and there are a lot of positive results for Iraq against Korea. I’ve got two Korean players that play with me in Qatar and I know it’s not an easy match but hopefully we can do the job on Monday.”/End/